Dear Editor,
I write in connection with a growing trend that has taken root on our roads which causes fatal accidents to occur ever so often. I make reference to the reckless attitude of some of our drivers when dealing with emergency vehicles. There is no respect for emergency vehicular sirens in Guyana. I have to be blunt about it.
Drivers hear or see those vehicles and simply go about their business as if that vehicle did not exist. I believe it is a macho thing because the chief culprits are mostly men, though a few women are in that lot. The cardinal rule when using the road is, at the sound of that siren you pull up or pull over so that the emergency vehicle goes through. That emergency vehicle always has the right of way, you the ordinary driver do not. The faster drivers get this through their thick skulls the better.
And this is the problem with drivers and wider society on a whole where everyone believes he/she has the right to do what you want to do so to hell with the rules. This is the new found faith to live by. No wonder the commissioners at the Linden Commission of Inquiry were horrified to hear of a senior figure in society uttering such nonsense. Rules are rules and they are there to protect us and to ensure that society functions in an orderly manner.
This same thing rings true for road use. Failing this, we would continue to see frequent occurrences of death and destruction on our roads.
This is the time to carry out a self survey to see if your driving is in keeping with the rules. So my advice is along with the attitude, drive carefully and responsibly.
Yours faithfully,
Neil Adams
