The Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Department will today be launching Operation Safeway to stem the 33% rise in fatal accidents.
This announcement was made during a press conference yesterday by Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine who described the situation as a very scary and unacceptable one that the Force will not allow to continue.
According to Ramnarine, there has been a 33% increase in fatal accidents this year. Over the last eight and half months there were 89 fatal accidents compared with 67 for the same period last year.
He said of the 96 deaths so far, pedestrians are the highest on the list at 29. Nineteen motorcyclists have also died along with 11 pedal cyclists and 14 drivers among other categories.
Of the total number of fatal accidents this year, he said that 14 were as a result of drunk driving during which 17 persons lost their lives including three children while 50 resulted from speeding leading to the loss of 56 lives including six children.
The Acting Top Cop said that private vehicles accounted for 63 of the fatal accidents that occurred. The drivers in these accidents were between the ages of 18 to 33.
Ramnarine said the Force acknowledges that there is an increase in the number of private cars working for hire. The drivers of these private cars that were caught and found eligible for a hire car licence were assisted through the process by the Force. He said 119 drivers were so assisted to obtain their hire car licences while 1,000 hire car driver licences were processed for this year.
While, Ramnarine did not state how long Safeway is scheduled to last, he noted that from today onwards there will be an increase in traffic patrols during the day and night, random breathalyzer testing and an increased use of radar guns to target speeding.
For years, the police force has been criticised for launching campaigns when traffic deaths rise but not sustaining the effort and failing to come up with answers to speeding, drunk driving and corruption in the driver licensing system.
“This is a call to order, we all have to be concerned because we all are going to be consumed not only in economic loss but the trauma people have to live with for years”, Ramnarine said, while adding “people need to understand, your reckless actions and behaviour, how it impacts other people’s livelihood and you need to adhere to your responsibilities.”
So far for this year, out of the 86 fatal accidents, 43 drivers were charged, 22 cases are currently under investigation and the police are awaiting legal advice on 15 cases, Ramnarine revealed.
The Acting Top Cop pleaded with members of the public to be cautious while using the roadways and to apply the five C’s so as to avoid causing injuries to themselves and other persons.
“It is never too late to speak to our fellow Guyanese, to call to their sense of self-preservation, to call to their sense of respect for not only each other but the very rules and regulation. It is clear to us that while the force is continuing to do so much, the driving population needs to have their concerns awakened in this respect”, he said.
In 2011, the police had recorded 106 accidents which resulted 115 deaths, in 2012 – 102 accidents with 110 deaths, in 2013 -103 accidents with 112 deaths, in 2014 -135 accidents with 146 deaths and in 2015 -106 accidents with 126 deaths..
“If we don’t harness this situation that is developing, the prognosis is that we are likely to have 120 accidents at the end of 2016 with 132 deaths”, Ramnarine stressed.
