Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:00 AM
Police Force embarks on massive traffic campaign
… Traffic Chief aims to break 20-year record
As part of ‘Operation Safeway,” the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force is continuing its exercise of detaining minibuses that have disregarded the basic traffic laws.
Between Wednesday and Thursday, the traffic department was able to detain a total of 22 minibuses that violated a number of traffic laws.
Corporal Elton Bailey of the Eve Leary Traffic Department told Kaieteur News yesterday that the traffic department is mostly aiming to detain minibuses that have a number of designs and artwork on the buses, which, he noted, are not in keeping with the traffic laws.
A typical example of writings and designs on minibuses, which is said to violate traffic laws.
Corporal Bailey explained that the registration certificates of the buses must carry the colours of the minibuses. However, he explained that while this is being done by some minibus drivers, this should not be the case, since minibuses should have one standard colour.
“For the Christmas season coming up, we want to keep enforcing it all the time. People must be aware that the police are doing something,” Corporal Bailey told Kaieteur News.
He noted that most buses have the words ‘sexy’ written on them, while there are a number of artworks on others.
Corporal Bailey stressed the need to have a regularized traffic system in place. He is calling on the Licence Revenue office not to have all the different colours included on the registration, since, he noted, this is not colour, but art designs.
The minibuses detained included those that ply routes 44, 42 and 40.
According to Corporal Bailey, these drivers would be charged for various offences, including negligence, interfering with the free flow of traffic, obstruction, failing to produce a driver’s license, defective motor vehicle, and amendment of entries.
As it relates to amendment of entries, he explained, the traffic department would sometimes check with the License Revenue Department to see if some vehicles have the same colours as stated on their registration certificates.
“We have some people spraying over from what was the original colour and not making the changes at the license office, so that is where we have the charge ‘amendment of entries’ instituted,” Corporal Bailey said.
He noted that no minibus should have any writing on its safety glass, as this can obstruct the view of the driver.
Traffic Chief Neil Semple told Kaieteur News yesterday that the traffic department is currently in the process of preparing a proposal, whereby public transportation must only bare the ID mark and colour code, as there must not be any writing whatsoever on any minibus.
“Is this a source of attracting passengers? What kind of morality do minibus owners have when they put on these kinds of writings on the buses? We cannot have public transportation with these kinds of obscenity,” the Traffic Chief said.
Semple strongly recommends that legislation be put in place to deal with this kind of vulgarity. Additionally, the Traffic Chief is very optimistic that the traffic department is looking to break the record of having the least road fatalities for this year, as opposed to the last 20 years.
He noted that in 1997 there were 138 road fatalities; while, for this year so far, there have only been 96 road deaths.
(Fareeza Haniff)
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