Dear Editor,
Death is striking too frequently on our roads in Guyana. We have begun this leap year with increased tragic leaps backward into the grave, and something should be done including by legislation to help reduce the accident rate on our motorways. To my mind the punishment of offenders is very mild and needs to be intensified somewhat.
If road users were intelligent enough to keep their wits about them when using the roads our present problem would be less serious, but unfortunately this does not happen. What do most motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and even animal drawn vehicles do? They simply treat the traffic regulations with contempt, and this is a clear indication of an utter disregard for the law in this country.
It is a fact that the Traffic Department is doing its best to encourage people to use the road in a proper way, but many people are still bent on jaywalking to paradise. As I said some time ago in the press, the police are not really out to prosecute the public, but to discourage prosecution when necessary.
In spite of the informative and short road safety talks given over the radio every morning, they do not seem to me to bear fruit. It is a hard thing to say that many people in our emerging society still display a great degree of indiscipline, which is reflected in the absolute and deliberate discourtesy shown on our roadways. The two main ingredients of discipline which road users should practice are care and courtesy, and with these elements, co-operation and consideration would naturally follow.
All in all, I feel where persuasion, encouragement and education have failed to affect the behaviour of reckless road users, severe law enforcement ought to be introduced to provide the correct solution to the problem. I would not say what rigid forms of punishment should be adopted and leave this in the capable hands of the appropriate authority.
Yours faithfully,
Autry A Fernandes
