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‘Mothers in Black’ says…Causing death by dangerous driving should be murder
Agnes Dabydial, a member of ‘Mothers in Black’ is of the opinion that the term ‘Causing Death by Dangerous Driving’ is actually murder, followed by fewer penalties. She is therefore calling on authorities to upgrade this to such.
“To me, this is definitely murder, and these dangerous drivers should be put away for a long time. Even if the system doesn’t consider it as such and does not want to put the penalty of murder on such cases, they should at least increase the penalty. They can’t be regarding people’s lives so cheaply,” the woman said.
Killed at age 13 by dangerous driving: Trishanna Dabydial
Dabydial, who lost her teenage daughter to dangerous driving, believes that it is unfair for a family to be shattered, and for a person to lose his life because of the carelessness of a driver.
“This does not cut it. Killing somebody because of careless driving is the same as shooting carelessly at a public place. It is murder, and the penalty should be harsher,” Dabydial opined.
Her daughter, Trishanna Dabydial, was 13 years old when she was struck down while crossing the East Coast Demerara public road in the vicinity of Better Hope in December of 2005. The child was on the pedestrian crossing when she was fatally struck down by a “big truck” driven by Godfrey Gomes.
Dabydial, who has two other children, told this newspaper that Gomes was placed on $40,000 bail. Five years later, was sentenced to a mere two years in prison.
The St. Rose’s High student would have celebrated her 21st birthday yesterday. She was on her way home from school when she was killed.
“Imagine we teach our kids to do the right thing and use the pedestrian crossing, but even that isn’t safe…because drivers are in too much of a hurry, and don’t care about who is in their way. They driving and knocking people out the way, and we as mothers, as parents, should stand up to these people. We need to make a point. The lives of our children cannot be lost so cheaply any longer,” Dabydial urged.
“Only those who have lost their child or children can understand what I am still going through. All this time past, and it still feel like yesterday. And that lenient penalty means nothing to me and my family. That can’t bring back our daughter and sister,” she added.
As a ‘Mother in Black’ (one who has lost her child to road fatality), Dabydial believes that it is downright preposterous that such a small price is put on the lives of Guyana’s future.
“My daughter was innocent. She had a lot of potential, and could’ve made something of this country. But she was killed because one man was too careless while using the road. This is not right at all. People dying and nobody seems to care. God forbid they lose somebody and feel the pain that families like mine go through every day.”
Dabydial told this newspaper that the current penalty for ‘Causing Death by Dangerous Driving’ is more of an encouragement for drivers to be reckless.
“With the punishment they giving these men, they can afford to keep driving like mad men on the road and kill two, three people every couple year. And if the investigations screw up, like many in this country, they would not have to spend a few nights in jail. They can continue killing people,” the woman stressed.
She added that coming out of the civil case, was $500,000 compensation.
“My family did not accept the money. We could not. Our daughter’s life was regarded so cheap. After the shock I got when my daughter died, I couldn’t work for about five years. It might sound like joke, but only the people who know can relate. So the compensation was more like an insult. My daughter’s life was not that meaningless,” Dabydial lamented.
The woman said that her youngest daughter, Trishanna, was the life of her family, and that ever since her demise, nothing has been the same.
“We never celebrated Christmases and holidays after Trishanna died. She was always in everything. She planned the holidays, and made the list of what we will do and so. She was a very organized and responsible child. She was a staunch Hindu. She would dance in Mandirs and offer help to anyone who needed it,” the woman reminisced. Her daughter had tremendous potential, and could have helped to build Guyana, she said.
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