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Laxity in our punishment for road crimes encourages lawlessness

Nov 05, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Four incidents over the last few days gives me an urgent reason to write another article on this subject.
These are all road crimes which, if left to the present system of things would result in more mass killings on our roads.
Here are the stories;
1. Drunk driving in the Lombard street crash
2. Driver crashes on Canje bridge
3. “Flood waters” cause driver to miss roadway
4. Police constable Dwayne Mingo fined $7,500 for DUI and dangerous driving
In the first case recorded, eyewitnesses can attest to the fact that the accused was speeding, even when he was pulled from the wreckage there was evidence of slurred speech and breath that reeked of alcohol.
Being drunk and speeding are all wanton causes for many fatal accidents on our roads today.
The second matter involves a driver, who in his recklessness crashed into a Canter truck whilst overtaking on the Canje Bridge.
Here again we find another road user guilty of the cardinal sin of speeding and overtaking in a place where he is not permitted to do so.
It is a dangerous thing to overtake on a bridge hence the sign, “No Overtaking’ clearly written at each entry point of bridges; but these signs mean nothing to the daredevil driver, who believes that he can do what he pleases and get away with it.
The same reasons we witnessed that horrific crash on the Corentyne Highway, where many persons lost their lives.
The third incident highlighted would give the impression that the floodwaters caused this driver to misjudge the area, blame it on the rain, as the common saying goes, but aren’t there rules governing one’s driving during times of heavy rainfall, on wet or slippery roads, or on occasions of poor visibility?
Again we must rely on the eyewitnesses who stated that this driver was speeding and he is guilty of breaking the rules governing proper road usage, thus making it unsafe for himself and others alike. In all of the above incidents there were widespread breaches of the law; thankfully no one was seriously hurt.
Sick and repulsive are the terms that readily come to mind, when you describe driving and the attitude of some of our drivers in Guyana.
I ask my readers to look at the driving of our Caribbean neighbours, who navigate narrow precipitous roads with little or no accidents resulting.
Why can’t we do the same here in Guyana where there are highways on wide expanses of flat land; certainly it is beyond me and defies intelligence?
The last incident mentioned I would say is the quintessential factor in this entire debate on driving, when a police officer could be fined a paltry sum of $7.500 for driving drunk.
To think of it, one who should be a keeper of the law could have been so intoxicated to the point of going overboard in his vehicle only to walk away with such a small fine speaks volumes.
Make no mistake, there will be no let up in the current lawlessness with the concomitant fatalities, once we have such laxity in the justice system.
Just punishment requires that a driver’s licence be revoked for the offences outlined above. Failure to do so will only prolong our long night of mourning.
Can anyone convince me why any of these drivers should ever drive again?
On this note I should remind readers that the driver of that minibus in the story I gave in a previous article is the same driver who died in the recent smash-up in Norton Street.
The point is drivers with such tendencies are only facilitated with the loopholes that presently exist and go on to kill other road users in the process.  There is only one solution – get those drivers off the road, for good, we would be making our roads safer and saving a life.
I must commend Magistrate Ann McClennan for sentencing Sean Hopkinson to six years imprisonment for robbery under arms, seems like someone has heeded my call for lengthy incarceration of those caught with a firearm, my only regret is that the sentences should have run consecutively.
Neil Adams

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