Male drivers cause majority of accidents in Guyana – Minister Benn

Aug 03, 2024 News

---

Kaieteur News – Young male drivers reportedly cause the majority of accidents in Guyana, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn disclosed on Friday during the 2024 Road Safety Stakeholders’ Forum and Road Safety Campaign Launch.

The event was held at the Police Officers Mess Annexe, Eve Leary, Georgetown.

“Young men, mostly young men some in the public transportation sector, young men who will go carousing and then become drivers of vehicles and our statistics perhaps as yet does not discern what the impact of driving under the influence is  in relation to road traffic deaths and accidents.”

He added, “It merely talks about speeding but much of the speeding comes as a result of young and middle aged men too I think,” Benn said at the forum which is a partnership among the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana National Road Safety Council, ANSA McAl Distribution Inc, and Unicomer Guyana Inc.

The forum addressed the commitment and future plans of key stakeholders and partners on actions undertaken to reduce deaths, injuries, crashes and trauma on the country’s roadways by 50%.

“When we look at the problem of course as it was mentioned that most of the accidents and the fatalities resulted are …mostly young men and of course there are others too, who are impacted directly,” the Minister said during his address.

Benn acknowledged the inappropriate behaviour of road users and highlighted that as a result of this behaviour, fatal accidents/ accidents will be a continuous problem.

Minister Benn said that most road fatalities occur on the weekends and in the evening.  He said, “…From Fridays to Mondays and in the evenings are the times in which we have mostly these serious events.”

He continued: “…And it behooves us to pay a particular attention to better discernment of what those statistics tells us and respond with measures to deal with the phenomenal, which is (what) the statistics tells us about.”

At the forum, it was revealed that Guyana recorded 74 fatal accidents in 2023, while 56 road deaths are the current statistics in 2024.

As a result, the Minister said that specific attention will be paid to behaviours.

“…we [must] adapt the most responsible behaviour, to protect ourselves and by extension our friends, family, the community and the country in respect of these issues,” he said noting that the issuing of posters about road safety can aid in curbing the high incidence of accidents.

“And again, I say all our problem is improper male adult behaviour,” he said adding that “Our men still have economic power and physical power and our men still think they alone should lead.”

He continued, “…Our men still… perhaps the younger ones, we have default perhaps in bringing them up of one thing to be the leader, one thing to be the go getter, and not providing enough space I think for woman, for partnership, for development, not yielding enough space, not opening enough more degrees of freedom for woman in partnership in the society.”

Further, the Home Affairs Minister said that road users speed because they assume they can get away with it.

“It’s simple, persons speed perhaps because they know even if they are charged, they would not appear in court to pay the fine,” Benn said while criticizing police officers for accepting bribery. He said traffic offenders continue to break the law because they are allowed to pay bribes to escape penalty.

Further, the Minister took aim at traffic offenders who assume they can, “make a call and somebody will get them off of it.”

“It is my view now that we will not get a better hold in this situation if people are not made to feel the appropriate sanctions for reckless misbehaviour, dangerous behaviour,” Benn stressed.

As such, Benn posited that traffic fines should increase three times while announcing that the Government intends to put in place the requisite technology in track court cases.

“So I will push forward the effort along with the Attorney General (Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC) to increase road traffic fines by at least three times,” the Home Affairs Minister said while lamenting that the “road deaths and those who have lost their lives on the roads is for me a personal tragedy too.”

Minister Benn reminded that the United Nations has the global imperative of road safety and the reduction of road traffic deaths this decade. As such, it is expected by 2030 that the deaths on Guyana’s roadways should be less than 50 annually.

---

• Fatal accidents, Ministry of Home Affairs, police, Robeson Benn, younger men

---