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Guyana trailing behind Caribbean in road safety
– NRSC vows stringent measures
Guyana is said to be lagging behind the Caribbean considerably in terms of road safety. Despite the decrease in road fatalities so far for 2012, National Road Safety Council (NRSC) Chairman, Nigel Erskine said that Guyana is still far away from its desired reduction in road carnage.
In an interview with the Kaieteur News, Erskine said that Guyana in May of last year signed a “Decade of Action” challenge set out by the United Nations, in that, by the year 2020, the country is to reduce its accident numbers by half.
According to Erskine, the UN has shown that road accidents are one of the leading threats to public health. The UN report stated that across the globe, approximately 1.3 million people die due to road accidents while 50 million are injured.
He said it is with such information that the challenge came about. Apart from that, Erskine said that Guyana needs to get on par with the rest of the Caribbean and in doing so a number of exercises, seminars and aims have been set out to reach the goal of road accidents reduced.
Erskine pointed out that the NRSC is working towards a significant reduction in accidents as its short term aims. The Chairman said that the organisation is looking to reduce its death numbers to at least 10 deaths per 100,000 persons in the next two years. 
The NRSC chairman said that the UN reported that around the world, at least 3000 persons die from road accidents daily. Therefore, in signing on to the UN’s challenge, the NRSC will be starting programmes that will look at safe vehicles, safe environment and safe road users.
The long-term aims Erskine said will be inclusive of a School safety patrol program. This he said will see schools across the country receiving training on road safety. He also mentioned the possibility of road safety education being included in the school curriculum. They will also become aware of road markings and other important features pertaining to road safety.
The Long term goals will also include training for drivers. These persons, he said, will attend seminars and training sessions. Ministries and private individuals will be targeted in this initiative, and according to Erskine, these persons will be trained by experts. For example, he said, was someone specialized in the sale of tyres to deliver information on buying the right tyres and proper maintenance. This aspect he said is part of making vehicles safer.
Another long term aim Erskine said involves the engineering section of the NRSC, which is responsible for the maintenance of road lights, signs and other markings. One of the most important aspects of road safety is the maintenance and correctness of road signs, Erskine said.
“This deals with the environment. Not only are we to have safe road users and safe vehicles, we must ensure that the environment is safe and this include signs, lights markings etc. This is very important.”
The chairman said that it is essential to involve road users in the goal to curb the current situation on Guyana’s roads. One pivotal issue the road safety official pointed to was passengers speaking out against drivers breaking that law.
“We are looking into talks with road users to encourage them not to be afraid to speak out against speeding, cellular phone usage while driving and other matters that can lead to accidents.”
According to the police statistics, at the end of May 2012 there was a 26 per cent decrease in accidents and fatalities when compared to the same period in 2011.
The police stated that for the period under review, 2011 recorded 46 fatal accidents resulting in 47 deaths of which two were children, while for 2012, 34 such accidents resulted in 35 deaths in which two children died.
The police insist that speeding continues to be a major contributory factor to fatal accidents, causing 24 of the 34 accidents as at May 31, 2012.
It was noted that traffic education and rigid enforcement of traffic laws continue to be the main factors responsible for the recorded reduction of road carnage.
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