Young motorists and their irresponsible road use

Oct 26, 2013 Editorial

One of the youngest truck drivers in the history of this country is in jail at this time having been refused bail by a magistrate. The truck driver is a nineteen-year-old who was licensed by the Guyana Police Force.
Many of us were under the impression that one had to be sixteen years old before that person could be licensed to drive a car. That person must then be accompanied by an established driver when piloting heavier vehicles. After a while, we were led to believe, the young driver may then apply to pilot the larger vehicle.
This may have been the case with the nineteen-year-old who, it is said, was licensed to drive a truck on the country’s roads. And so we have this young truck driver fetching a load of sand along the East Bank Demerara Public Road.
We turn back the clock to a few days earlier and we come to a young driver of a minibus who cut in front of a car and got clipped. The result is that two people died. There have been other accidents, needless accidents. There have been cases of drivers overtaking without paying attention to oncoming traffic.
Just Thursday we hear of a truck crushing a boy. This truck, too, was transporting a load of sand. Earlier in the week we heard of a driver on the Essequibo Coast coming out of a street and onto the main road when his vehicle was mangled. The driver of the car died.
Accidents have become commonplace and too many lives are being lost. To their credit the police have been trying their utmost to curb road fatalities but it would seem that every time they seem to find a solution the motorist comes up with another crazy venture. He would proceed at speed way above the limit in a congested street.
Experience would teach any driver that patience is the greatest asset when using the roads. It only takes a few minutes of waiting, failing which lives could be lost. This was the case when that teenaged driver caused the death of four people. The matter is before the courts but we can only repeat the eyewitness accounts.
A lot of this would be presented as evidence in the court and our sub judice laws stipulate that we should not pass judgement that could influence the outcome of a trial. Yet we cannot help but notice some interesting facts. For one the truck was the property of the driver who when asked whether he was licensed simply said that he did not know.
A person would know whether he is licensed unless the licence was procured by means other than the established means. Earlier this year, the police busted a ring within its ranks, of people who were selling forged licences. It was a case of anything being had for a fee and regardless of the consequence.
That the magistrate chose to remand the young driver is to send a message to others of his ilk. His financially well-off parents had secured a lawyer from the start and from what transpired, they were prepared to leave no stone unturned to keep their son on the roads.
We have lamented in the past and we continue to do so. The relatives of the victims should move to the courts for compensation for their injuries and for the lost lives. But for the most part we accept any decision handed down by the court because we know no better. We tend to believe that whatever the courts decide is the ultimate penalty. We do not realize that after the court decision we could then take private action.
So we return to the situation at hand. This young man with tones of steel under him, opts to overtake a parked truck without enduring that the way was clear for overtaking. The result is that four people have died.
There is so much irresponsibility on the roads that a day does not go by without some accident. The police with the support of the courts and private action could see a change in this trend.

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