Golden Grove man killed by drunk driver

Mar 05, 2013 News

The Toyota Alteeza came to a halt after crashing into this wooden fence.

For the second time in a month, a drunk youth has caused the death of a road user as a result of a vehicular accident.
Fifty-eight-year old Patrick Lester, called “Palace”, of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara, is the latest road fatality, after he was picked up by an out of control Toyota Alteeza driven by a 20-year-old.
Lester succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital just before midnight Sunday.
Lester was sitting on his bicycle at the corner of the Nabaclis Main Road and the East Coast Demerara Public Road when he was hit by the speeding car and deposited into a yard about 40 metres away. Eyewitnesses almost missed him as his body was almost concealed by grass in the darkness of the night.
From all appearances, Lester suffered broken ribs and legs along with severe head injuries.
In fact, a piece of his skull was left on the shattered portion of the front windscreen of the car; and such was the severity of the impact that his bicycle was broken into several pieces.
The car had earlier slammed into a Mitsubishi Lancer, which was parked about 100 metres from where it eventually stopped.
The Lancer was pushed into a nearby ditch. The out of control car was stopped by a fence after it had struck down Lester. The sound of the several impacts caused many residents to leave their homes and converge on the crash site.
For apparently obvious reasons, they were angry and threatened violence causing the driver of the errant car to flee the scene only to be apprehended by public-spirited persons.
Thankfully the police patrols quickly arrived on the scene and quelled any attempt at violence.
“He de going with so much speed dat if dat fence didn’t stop he, was straight to town he de carrying dah man,” an eyewitness told Kaieteur News.

This sign on the Toyota Altezza says it all.

The driver of the car was whisked away to the city to undergo a breathalyser test, which revealed that he was way above the allowable alcohol limit.
This move by the police angered residents who questioned the absence of breathalysers on the East Coast of Demerara given the fact that it is one of the main Police Divisions in the country and one in which the culture of drunk driving is prevalent.
About a month ago a teenager who was also heavily under the influence of alcohol crashed his Toyota Tundra head on into a minibus, killing two persons.
“These people does drink dem rum and drive and kill people father, mother and children, and all dem does get is a fine or couple years,” one villager lamented at the scene.
He was joined by others who are convinced that the penalty for causing the death of someone while driving under the influence of alcohol is too light. Another bone of contention is the lax ambulance service in the area.
According to residents of Nabaclis, an ambulance which is attached to the CC Nicholson Hospital in the village was rendered useless at the time of the accident due to the absence of a driver.
“Is a man had to put de man (Lester) in me car and drive he to the hospital. Heaven knows if the ambulance was available, if dat man would live,” another villager stated.
A police source has indicated that the driver in Sunday night’s accident could be placed before the court as early as today.