When will the carnage on our roads end?

Feb 18, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News Editorial of February 5, “The major threats to life in Guyana” sadly highlights how valueless a human life has now become. Every week it seems that someone is killed in the process of a robbery or drug hit; during a domestic violence or vehicular accident. And although drug-related assassinations and those criminals killed by law enforcement officers will get no sympathy from me, my heart bleeds for women killed in domestic violence, and those innocent lives loss forever from reckless and dangerous driving? How many families must adjust to life without a parent or a child, whose life was taken by the irresponsible actions of a drunken driver? When will the carnage on our roads end? Enough is enough!
With new and wider roads now under construction, vehicular accidents are expected to increase unless the law deals severely and decisively with drivers found guilty of tailgating, speeding, overcrowding of public transportation, and Driving Under the Influence -DUI.
According to the Editorial, “In Guyana, accident victims rarely go to the courts in pursuit of civil claims despite the criminal proceedings. And this may be the cause that people take driving on the streets for granted. In any case, the courts are not known to hand down rigid penalties.
The result is that drunk drivers get away with little more than a slap on their wrists, regardless of how much pain they leave in their wake.”
On my last visit to Guyana a few months ago, I attended a function where I witnessed a senior member of the Judiciary and members of Parliament consuming large amounts of alcohol. After which they got into the driver seats of their vehicles and presumably drove home. These are highly paid prominent professionals who can easily afford to employ a driver, or pay a taxi to take them safely home after a party. Instead, they risk their own safety, their careers, and the lives of others to the false sense of judgement one gets when intoxicated. If lawmakers and law enforcers indulge in this dangerous practice, they may be very concerned that setting and enforcing rigid standards to discourage DUI, will someday become their own Achilles’ heel when they’re caught driving drunk. Hence, “drunk drivers get away with little more than a slap on their wrists”, because some in the legal profession are guilty of indulging in this same criminal act.
During 2012, one hundred and ten deaths were caused by road accidents. So far this year, twelve persons were killed from ten road accidents.
During last year, 42,474 breathalyzer tests were conducted nationwide and a large number of drivers were placed before the courts for DUI convictions. But obviously, the penalties handed down were not severe enough to deter others.
On February 3, a seventeen-year-old drunk driver snuffed out the lives of two innocent commuters in a mini bus, while driving his father’s Tundra without permission.
Then on February 16, Thirteen-year-old Troy Fraser was killed by a “drunk drag-racing Army Officer” in Mahaicony. If I had my way, the Army Officer would not be the only one prosecuted for this child’s death. The three others that were racing with him indirectly caused this accident, and should be charged as accomplices.
For now, public outrage calls for stiffer penalties to deal with drunk driving.
And Traffic Chief Hugh Denhert is reported to have said that drivers continue to disregard the traffic laws, causing problems for others and very often, serious accidents. He gave the assurance that the Traffic Department will be focusing heavily on enforcing the laws, particularly when it comes to driving under the influence (DUI) and the use of cell phones while driving.
While this is encouraging, for those laws to be effective, the penalty must be severe enough to deter drunk driving. They must also be rigidly enforced. Neither, in my opinion, is being done.
In an effort to stop this carnage, I call upon the Attorney General and members of Parliament on both sides, to revisit the traffic laws, and to consider the following suggestions:
1. Increase the legal age for the consumption of alcohol to age 21.
2. Make ID checks mandatory to determine the age of a youthful-looking consumer, before alcoholic beverage is sold.
3. Make it a violation, and hold owners of night clubs, bars, and restaurants liable if alcohol is sold to, or consumed by anyone under the age of 21.
4. Make it a violation, and hold owners of night clubs, bars, and restaurants liable if alcohol is sold on their premises to a patron who, by his/her demeanor, is suspected of already being intoxicated. Penalties could range from a fine of $10,000 to a fine and suspension of the business license for repeated violations.
5. Anyone found guilty of DUI on a first offence, should serve a mandatory prison sentence of 7 to 14 days; complete a State-sponsored program for  alcohol abuse; and have his/her driving privileges suspended for three months.
6. Anyone found guilty of DUI on a second offence, should be subject to a mandatory prison sentence of 30 to 90 days with counseling, and have his/her driving privileges suspended for six months.
7. Anyone found guilty of DUI on a third offence, will have his/her vehicle confiscated, be subject to a mandatory prison sentence of 30 to 90 days with counseling, and have his/her driving privileges taken away permanently.
8. Anyone convicted of DUI while driving a commercial vehicle (bus, taxi and truck) and transporting another human being at the time the offence is committed, will have their sentence doubled.
I believe if these suggestions are applied to existing laws, one will surely think a thousand times before they sit behind the wheel of a vehicle after inebriating. Traffic police must be proactive and stake out nightclubs, rum-shops and beer gardens to catch drunk drivers in the act. Leaders in our communities have a responsibility of setting the right example for others to follow, and the manufacturers of alcoholic beverages have a responsibility to warn consumers of alcohol abuse on all liquor advertising.
The above will not prevent anyone from getting drunk if that is their intention. But it will certainly deter them from driving in that condition.
Harry Gill

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