Careless road use leads to pain

Oct 19, 2008 Editorial

It would seem that the more the police try to curb road accidents, the more motorists and other categories of road users do their damnedest to counter the efforts of the police.

More recently, the police were equipped with speed guns, because they had determined that speeding was the major cause of accidents on the roads and was responsible for the death of many. This past week, there were no less than six collisions, and at least one case of a vehicle driving overboard.

Many of these accidents occurred in the city, where the roads are narrow and where it should be most unlikely for any accident to occur. However, the motorists simply ignore the basic road signs and, some of them, the traffic lights.

At about mid-afternoon yesterday, a car happened to be speeding along the East Bank Public Road when the driver spotted a traffic rank aiming a speed gun at him.

He slammed into the back of a bus because he tried to brake to fool the police rank, even as the bus was slowing at the request of the police.

Then there was the crash, a few hours later in Linden, in which the driver of a minibus died and some reporters were seriously injured. The reporters were returning from Ituni, where the Guyana telephone and Telegraph Company had launched its most recent cell site.

Just one short year ago, Linden was the scene of one of the most horrific crashes that left a dozen people dead and others so badly injured that they needed months in hospital to recuperate. But for the carelessness of a minibus driver, who was seeking to overtake while heading up a hill, and a truck with huge logs protruding from the tray and no lights to indicate the danger, those lives would have been saved.

The police have been making a lot of noise about the decline in the number of road fatalities, and they say that Operation Safeway should be credited.

What they do not say is that the number of accidents should have been even less, but for the fact that some policemen actually turn a blind eye to errant road users, sometimes accepting some form of compensation for turning a blind eye.

What is amazing is that people simply convince themselves that their actions will in no way cause accidents, but that is precisely what happens. Yesterday’s accident at Linden was caused by a contracted minibus driver slamming into the back of a moving bus. How could this happen?

Drivers often forget that they have the lives of others in their hands. They behave irresponsibly, and in the process the people who place their fate into the hands of these drivers suffer.

In this incident, the driver died, but some reporters who were in the bus sustained injuries, one of them so severe that she was unconscious, having suffered severe head injuries.

Ironically, this accident occurred not far from the site of the deadly accident last year, so the superstitious would contend that the site is haunted, forgetting that people cause accidents.

Perhaps it is time that the courts increase the penalty for errant road users. In the United States, drivers are at pains to be careful because, not only do they suffer in the courts, they are made to pay because the already high insurance gets even higher.

Then there is litigation that follows. People have been known to lose their homes because of litigation following traffic accidents.

Indeed, Guyana recently hiked the penalties in the courts, but that is far from being a deterrent, because the penalties are nothing more than a slap on the wrist, given that inflation keeps eroding whatever levy there is.

The time may have come for the Guyana Police Force to reinstitute patrols. These have been known to work, because the patrol would dictate the pace of the traffic. The patrols also force drivers to be on the alert.

For a country with so few miles of roads, and narrow roads at that, it boggles the mind that there are accidents. Perhaps it has to do with the licensing procedures.

The police say that they are going to conduct mandatory testing of drivers who attain a certain age. Now may be the time, because this driver was at that age when the reflexes diminish.

Latest News

Careless road use leads to pain

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 7th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Imlach masterclass 126, Alimohamed 66-ball 77, give Harpy Eagles life...

Fraser rebounds well, as Arjoon keeps perfect...

Guyana to host historic 3×3 Quest Tournament

Quarter-Finals in Mashramani Street Football...

Vurlon Mills Football Academy launches KFC...

DEMLIFE Golf Tournament tees off today at LGC

Features/Columnists

Due diligence on investments must become a priority

OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus

Awestruck and starstruck with a twist

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Careless road use leads to pain

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| February, 7th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]