Dear Editor,
My heart goes out to the families of the five persons who were killed in a road accident on the Linden Soesdyke Highway on Monday, May 13, 2024. Having recently experienced the loss (not by accident) of someone who was the closest to me than anyone else in this world, for decades, I can imagine the excruciating pain that now envelopes these families. I also understand that the conditions of 4 other people is described as critical. No amount of soothing words can give enough comfort to the deceased families. The only vital relief could flow from the Lord. Our prayers are with the victims’ families.
This tragedy calls into question the rising carnage on the roads. It was reported by the Ministry of Home Affairs that road fatalities increased from 99 in 2022 to 175 in 2023 (an increase of 76.8%). An alarming trend is the high rate of motorcycle fatalities which increased in 2023 by 166.7% over the 2022 figure. A good perspective of the magnitude of the Guyana’s road fatalities situation is obtained by citing the relevant figures for Trinidad & Tobago. There, the road fatalities increased by just 8% from 86 in 2022 to 93 in 2023. Yet they lamented this slight percentage increase.
The cause of accidents, the loss of lives, the grief, the economic impact, and social dislocation, are all combined and expressed as an abstract piece of official statistics, devoid of humanity. Families of victims, however, worry if the trends in statistics on fatalities alone would determine public policy and action to contain the problem!
Commentators have suggested several measures such as re-structuring the grant of licenses to drivers of motor vehicles. All applicants, for example, should enter a licensed driving school or take lessons from a trained and certified driving instructor for 2 to 3 weeks and then take a written examination set by the National Road Safety Council. When they pass both the training and test, then they should be issued with a provisional license. If within 2 years, they are not involved in any accident, they could be considered for a regular license. The fitness of vehicles should be delegated to authorized licensed workshops. Oversight functions could be performed by the National Road Safety Council and/or the Auditor General Department. This would tend to reduce police corruption and release more police to work on the streets to monitor speed and regulate traffic.
Home Affairs Minister Hon Robeson Benn says that speeding accounted for 61 of the 99 (or 61.6%) fatalities in 2022 and 128 of the 175 (or 73.1%) fatalities in 2023. In 2022, therefore, 6 in every 10 fatalities were due to speeding, compared with 7 in every 10 in 2023. The Traffic Chief has stated that apart from speeding, drunken driving, and lack of attentiveness (distraction) are major contributory factors in fatalities. Fatalities are due to either one factor or a combination of factors. However, making statements about behavioural attitudes (such as the need to observe rules and being attentive) would not yield any significant result unless these are buttressed by relevant policies and programs to regulate behaviour.
The Government should consider revising speed limits as is being done in New York State which has just passed the Sammy’s Law that allows New York City to reduce the speed limit from 25mph to 20 mph, and to reduce it further to 15mph in designated zones.
Do drivers’ behaviour on the road reflect the social and moral decay that threaten the viability of Guyanese society? Social issues like suicide, broken families, alcoholism, crime, drug abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, etc., have not been elevated yet to the center of the political radar. To ensure that the rapid physical and material transformation expresses itself in quality living for all Guyanese, this must be accompanied by “attitudinal” transformation.
Here is where the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security in association with NGOs like churches could play a key role. It was great to note that President Ali is aware of this dichotomy, and he recently met with religious leaders to help in rebuilding our society on principles of equity and shared responsibility. I note, however, that these NGOs could play a greater cohesive role in nation building if the government is willing to allocate annual subventions to them.
At the enforcement level, while e-ticketing and the setting up of cameras would help to control drivers’ behaviour, this must be complemented by having more “boots on the ground.” Education and training programs for drivers and road users are important, but police must patrol streets, monitor speed limit, direct traffic, and conduct random traffic blocks. There are other measures that the government could deploy to contain the problem but these will be discussed elsewhere.
I have given much thought about the traffic fatalities including criminality, and I would recommend that the government allocates the responsibility of immigration and naturalization to a separate entity, as was done by the previous government (APNU+AFC), to be called the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship. This move will allow the Ministry of Home Affairs to consolidate its focus on the public safety enforcement agencies (police, prison, and fire service) to bring crime and road accidents under control.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tara Singh
