Rohee, police officials meet with road users

Aug 15, 2011 News

Increasing lawlessness on the roadways, resulting in road fatalities, has led the Ministry of Home Affairs to rethink its current policies and seek the creation of new ones to make the roads safer.
To effect those changes, the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee; Commander A Division, George Vyphius; Traffic and Road Safety Officer, Nigel Erskine; and members of the Guyana National Road Safety Council, yesterday interacted with road users at the Diamond Secondary School.
The interactive session is part of an ongoing divisionary meeting which seeks to monitor, evaluate and take into account road safety, to identify issues to improve safety on the roadways, and to formulate new policies and make changes where necessary.
Minister Rohee emphasized that there is a need to create an East Bank Road Safety Association, comprising members of the district. At the meeting persons were asked to form a steering committee that would lead to the development of the association.
The association is expected to be in constant contact with the Ministry, as the various suggestions and recommendations raised from the divisionary meetings would require further discussions.
In 2010, statistics show that there were seven vehicular accidents which ended in fatalities. Twenty-nine passengers, 22 motorcyclists, one pillion rider, 38 pedestrians, and 18 pedal cyclists who died on the roadways.
He stressed that the above statistics indicate that passengers and pedestrians suffer more on the roadway.
It was noted that while the law is not widely known, persons are cognizant when they are in violation. He stressed that driving requires good judgment, average, and experience and these can be compromised when persons use illicit drugs or drink and drive. Owing to this, the implementation of the breathalyzer was necessary.
Minister Rohee asserted that persons are well aware that they should not speed, desist from using a hand piece whilst driving, wear seatbelts, and utilize helmets.
It was noted that there are some instances in which the road structure may cause a driver to stop a certain way on the roadway. This calls for the traffic rank to expedite good judgment, reasonableness, and flexibility.
According to Vyphius, the roadway is more lethal than a gun. He explained that persons find it alarming, whenever they hear that a person was shot and killed, than if a person was struck down by a vehicle. However, statistics show that more persons die on the roadways than by a firearm.
He stressed that some persons complain about police harassment, when the person was in disobedience to the road laws, for example: overloading minibuses, overtaking on the double yellow line, overtaking on a turn, and speeding.
Vyphuis stressed that persons need to start valuing their lives rather than money. If everyone practices road safety there will be less road accidents.

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