1546 cases filed under ‘Operation Safeway’

Nearly two weeks after ‘Operation Safeway’ was launched in efforts to curb the spiking road fatalities, over 1500 cases have been filed against errant road users.

Traffic Chief Dion Moore
Traffic Chief Dion Moore

According to the Guyana Police Force (GPF), a notable decrease in all categories of road accidents is evident just eight days after the operation was launched.
It has long been identified that the main causes of accidents are often speeding and drunk driving, and despite several steps undertaken by the GPF to discourage the practice, drivers continue to operate recklessly on the country’s roadways.
Under ‘Operation Safeway’, a total of 1546 cases were made out thus far: 567 were for speeding and 96 for driving under the influence of alcohol. Additionally, the police noted that on Friday night alone, 152 persons were given a breathalyzer test and 28 were found to be above the legal limit.
In light of increasing fatal accidents on the country’s roadways, the Police Force on September 15 launched ‘Operation Safeway’ in another effort to clamp down on the worrying occurrence.
To this end, on Thursday last the Traffic Department received additional equipment for distribution to the various divisions to aid in the exercise.
Traffic Chief, Dion Moore, underscored the need for the ranks to be fully equipped to efficiently carry out their duties.
Among the items distributed are radar guns, breathalyzers, flashing wands, reflector vests and traffic cones.
“In all of the divisions, there will be ongoing operations by day and by night. At night, you will have more vehicular patrols and within those patrols you will find ranks providing random breathalyzer and speed testing hence the additional equipment,” the Traffic Chief stated.
Moore had disclosed too that since the establishment of ‘Operation Safeway’, there has been one fatal accident at Unity, East Coast Demerara, which claimed the lives of two persons. He also detailed that the Division with the most arrests under this exercise is the ‘A’ Division (Georgetown/East Bank Demerara) followed by ‘B’ Division (Berbice).
According to Traffic Chief Moore, the Traffic Department is currently utilising more than 200 ranks to execute the operation. Moreover, he disclosed that ranks are working on a 24-hour shift basis, with special emphasis on the night period.
“We find within the nights, we have to take off the foot patrol ranks and utilise vehicles to have more mobile patrols for the exercise,” he remarked.
‘Operation Safeway’ is ongoing and, according to the Traffic Chief, there is no tentative date when it will be relaxed. The aim is to have more road safety-conscious drivers and to promote better driving attitudes as well as road safety practices.