One need not wait for the Guyana Police Force’s dissemination of its annual statistics to come to the conclusion that 2014 was a tragic and bloody one for many road users. In fact, as it is right now, if the current trends continue it will not be long before every one of us is affected by the disastrous traffic situation; either by being directly involved or by knowing someone who was.
Six days into 2015, the trend shows no sign of abating, as two tragic incidents have already claimed two lives. The first was that of a pedestrian at Cemetery Road, in which at least two other persons were injured, and the second was that of a female security guard who was involved in a minibus crash at Diamond, East Bank Demerara. Several other persons were injured in the crash as well, which saw the minibus slamming into a utility pole after its driver lost control.
As at October 10, 2014, police had indicated that the road fatality figure had soared to record heights and was 33% above the previous year’s recorded road deaths. The police also related, by way of a press release, that as at the end of September last, there had been 100 road fatalities from 92 accidents, in comparison with 75 fatalities from 72 accidents for the same period in 2013. Speeding, the press release added, continued to be the major contributing factor to fatal accidents and was the cause of 57 of the 92 fatalities. The police were unable to pin down how many of the road crashes which resulted in death also involved driving while under the influence of alcohol, because for a significant period during the year there were no breathalyzer kits to take such evidence. However, it is now obvious that this equipment is in use as evidenced by the number of drivers who are being charged with the offence and placed before the courts.
One wishes there was some similar device that measured driving while under the influence of ignorance as anecdotal evidence suggests that this is a major problem. Quite possibly, it may also account for some road deaths.
It was in September that the death of a teenage girl in an incident involving a speeding car at Letter Kenny of the Corentyne Coast in Berbice angered residents who were already fed up with the speeding vehicles and attendant fatalities. They thus protested on the streets, burning the car that was involved in the incident in the process.
Meanwhile, between June and December last year, some of the fatalities included:
June – Wallace Nurse, 58; July – Vickram Ramlakhan, 26; August – Eson Ritch, 39 and Brazilian vice-consul in Guyana Theotonio Santa Cruz Oliveira, 61. In September there was Sunil Brijhuram, 21, and Simon Bachu; and in October – Sarswattie Harry-Persaud and Turrick Mc Lennon, 23.
November was by far the worst month for fatalities. The lives lost included Bennett Beveney, 54;
Isaiah Khan, 12; Carol Overton-Dawson, 44; Jevon Bellamy; 59-year-old Ramdoolar Dhanraj; Dhanraj Doodnauth, 76; Dilchand Angad, 28; Alden Straker; and Mahendra Jugisteer, 30.
December followed closely behind with the deaths of Kojo McPherson Jr, 13; Reena Singh, Khemwattie Mohabir, Davendra Jaipaul, Veith Stephen, Cindy Singh, Richard Giddings, Pash Jienarine, Suren Mangru, Yonette Branche and Rakesh Sukdeo.
These and others will appear as statistics in the police press release that is imminent. But each one left a void; grieving families and friends and work as yet unfinished. In the majority of these cases, the deaths were preventable and many involved speed and alcohol – a deadly combination.
When one takes a look at the current traffic situation, especially as it obtains in the city and along the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara, it is clear that it would take perhaps the full strength of the force out on the streets to maintain order. The five Cs—care, courtesy, consideration, caution and commonsense—have been tossed to the wind and replaced by chutzpah, churlishness, crassness, craziness and coarse behaviour. Even to the most casual observer it is clear that some drivers use the road as if Armageddon has arrived; and for some of them that is the case. Unfortunately, the lives of innocents are also snuffed out in the process. The now well-known saying that ‘if you can drive in Guyana you can drive anywhere else’ should make us all ashamed. There is nothing like a leisurely drive anymore; any excursion on the country’s roadways is a stressful undertaking.
As more and more vehicles vie for space on the road, another approach is needed. There should be more stringent laws and ways of enforcing them. The calls for the replacement of the charge of ‘causing death by dangerous driving’ with ‘vehicular manslaughter’ should also be heeded.
