Traffic cameras to replace speed guns – Govt.

Dec 10, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana has procured and commenced the testing of traffic monitoring cameras to detect speeding motorists, possibly marking the beginning of the end to the highly controversial practice of police-operated speed guns.

Dr. Irfaan Ali at the Guyana Tourism Awards and Dinner

This was revealed by H.E. President, Dr. Irfaan Ali on Wednesday night during the Tourism Awards Gala held at Parc Rayne.
President Ali explained that “On the new highway that we are building, we are testing right now an electronic speed monitoring system.”
The President pointed out that the cameras will register the speed a vehicle is moving at, and when a vehicle is operated at a speed beyond the legal limit the cameras will automatically take a photograph of the number plate and the vehicle.
“I’m giving you an early warning; your electronic ticket will be sent to the court and your home simultaneously. Good luck, Merry Christmas,” President Ali noted.
Dr. Ali added that he was particularly concerned with how persons use the roadways.
He further explained that the objective is to create an environment that can prevent traffic accidents from occurring.
“We can’t have madmen and women driving on the road,” Dr. Ali posited.

An example of the traffic monitoring speeding cameras

“So, we are going to take that away from the police, in the sense that they don’t have to spend hours on the road anymore with a speed gun.”
“Sometimes, the way some of these people drive on the road, begs the question whether we even have an appreciation for our own lives, so we are going to invest in technology and the systems that will guide change. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time to catch up anymore. We have to put the highest standards and everybody have to come up to speed with the standards without speeding,” the Head of State related.

Meanwhile, these cameras will help prevent the acts of corruption linked with lawmen, who take or solicit bribes from motorists against issuing them with tickets for speeding.