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Passengers must take the blame for the Homestretch Avenue tragedy

Jul 20, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I returned from Monday’s accident scene on Homestretch Avenue with a fury that kept growing as the death toll kept climbing.
Most of my initial rage was directed at the driver who took five lives while escaping with hardly a scratch; this driver who had the temerity to tell me at the scene that he didn’t think that any of the passengers was seriously injured; this idiot who literally turned Homestretch Avenue into a racetrack..
But as I wrote, I began to feel a growing outrage at the adult passengers.
The thought that kept going through my mind was: “If only someone had had the courage to say something to that driver…”
Why would adults, including some with small children in their care, sit silently in a speeding bus?
The usual excuse passengers give is that minibus operators—or sometimes other commuters—would become verbally abusive when anyone cautions them about overloading, loud music or speeding. The other main complaint is that corrupt traffic ranks are in the pay of these drivers.
When did Guyanese become so cowardly? Is it better to sit silently like a lamb going to the slaughter in a speeding bus than to raise your voice in protest?
What I usually do in cases like this is caution the driver twice. If he ignores me, I take his photograph, record his licence number, and take it to the police station in the area where the offence was committed. That driver’s bus is then impounded, and he is then taken to court and fined.
In this age of mobile phones, passengers can also
record the abusive driver, as well as take pictures of the culprit and his vehicle. And what about recording pictures of corrupt traffic officers receiving bribes and posting them on the internet?
I know I may get some flack for saying this, but I sincerely feel that what happened last Monday on Homestretch Avenue was no tragedy. The real tragedy was that responsible, intelligent adults would sit in a speeding bus like silent sheep.
A nation of sheep deserves no pity.
Michael Jordan.
Journalist

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