I will continue to be a road safety advocate and expose this legal system that is failing victims

Sep 05, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Five months ago on Good Friday night, a young mother named Ramona Harris was killed by a hit-and-run driver a short distance from my home in the new Diamond Housing Scheme.
I saw her lying mangled and dying on the parapet. I watched her take her last breath at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.
And that night I vowed to take the fight to all reckless drivers who snatch away the lives of our loved ones without a thought about the immense grief they cause.
The man who killed Roman Harris remains at large, and I know, (through credible sources) that he will never be brought to justice. The wealthy have a lot of power in this country).
About a week after Ramona’s death I published a feature (“Kill and Run”) to highlight cases in which these ‘killer’ drivers continue to escape justice, either because they are unknown or because they have fled the jurisdiction.
But research for that story led to me uncovering something even more disturbing. I unearthed several cases in which drivers who had killed persons on the roadways were paying off the victims’ families.
One family received $600,000 as compensation for the death of their eight-year-old daughter. Another family accepted $300,000 for the death of their seven- year-old daughter. Yet another family member in a third case agreed to a settlement after a driver killed two children, including his little daughter.
These drivers, who were all charged, will never see the inside of a prison cell because the charges against them were dropped after the settlements were paid.
This was done with the full knowledge of the police, attorneys, prosecutors and magistrates.
A Magistrate who spoke with me confirmed that he had dismissed some cases after compensation was paid.
That Magistrate said that he would usually direct the police prosecutor to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutors (DPP) before dismissing these matters. In some cases, he stated that he would make a decision without the DPP.
His explanation for dismissing these cases was that once a settlement has been agreed to, it would be difficult to go on with the case because the families and eyewitnesses would not turn up in court.
He also highlighted corruption and sloppy investigation by traffic ranks at the scene of accidents.
But one retired judge told me that these matters should all go to the DPP. He said that even then, the DPP should allow the case to continue, since the paying of compensation indicates guilt.
Who is right, the magistrate or the retired judge?
As for the families of the victims, most of them said that they saw compensation as the only alternative since they had no faith in the police or the judicial system.
One mother said that her family was poor while the family of the accused driver had the money and connections. And one former magistrate agreed that because of corruption, and the way the system operates, it would be better for the victims to accept a settlement. He said that even if a driver is convicted he could appeal his sentence. He could then be released on bail, while waiting about three years for his appeal to be heard.
These are his exact words: “It would be better if the victims’ families settled…it’s hard, but that is the situation. In Guyana, the system is not good…the whole judicial system is failing.”
With all this carnage on the roadways, only two drivers are at present in the country’s jails after being convicted on causing death charges.
A new school term begins tomorrow, and I will once again watch with trepidation as my 12-year-old daughter boards a mini-bus, and pray for her safe return. I worry whenever my mother has to travel to the city, whenever I see my elderly uncle riding in Georgetown.
And that is one reason why I will do all in my power to make our roadways safe, why I will continue to take speeding bus drivers to court, why I will try to change this rotten, failed system, in which a poor man is more likely to be jailed for a petty crime than a rich man who kills a child on the roadway.
Michael Jordan

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