21-yr-old motorcyclist killed in early morning accident

‒ girlfriend critical

By Lakhram Bhagirat

An accident that occurred on the Meten-Meer-Zorg public road, West Coast Demerara (WCD) on Sunday at about 2:55hrs has left 21-year-old Kevin Singh of Hague Backdam, WCD dead, and his girlfriend Verna Wells warded at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) in an unconscious and critical state.

The two persons were reportedly returning home from watching the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket finals at a friend’s home a few villages away. According to information, Singh was riding motorcycle CH 8732, which crashed into a parked forklift at the side of the road.
The impact of the crash sent the electrician and his girlfriend flying from the bike, to land several feet away from the site of the crash. Neither victim was wearing a helmet at time of the incident, and Singh may have been under the influence.
Rushed to the Leonora Diagnostic Center, the couple was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where Singh was pronounced dead on arrival.
The Police have said their investigations have so far revealed that the couple was proceeding east along the northern carriageway of the road on motorcycle CH 8732 when the collision with a forklift which was parked on the edge of the road occurred, and the persons ended up on the northern grass parapet.
According to the dead man’s cousin, Nirmala Singh, a call was received early on Sunday morning informing family members of the accident, and they immediately rushed to the GPHC to investigate.
“We got a call early in the morning and we went to the hospital, where they tell us that he died. He come home from work around 7pm and then said he going by his friend in Anna Catherina to watch the cricket; and he was coming home when the accident happen,” she related.
Nirmala said relatives were informed that Kevin crashed into a parked forklift with his girlfriend in tow, but the family does not know the woman. “We hear that she is from Region One (North West District) and has three children, but we don’t know anything about she, because we never meet she,” Nirmala said.
Another relative, Kayann Singh, told the <<Guyana Times>> that the dead man would usually stay at their Lot 73 Haley Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown home during the work week and go to his Hague home on weekends. She related that Kevin was involved in an accident just over a week ago, and his bike was recently repaired.
Just last Friday, 38-year-old Malcom Ross, called ‘Shabba,’ and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Jewel Pestano, were killed in an accident, when the motorcycle on which they were travelling crashed into a car on the Cummings Lodge railway embankment road on the East Coast of Demerara.
In addition, Traffic Chief Dion Moore has said that Operation Safeway, which was launched on September 15, 2016, has yielded some success in reducing the number of road fatalities.
The Traffic Chief launched Operation Safeway with the intention of decreasing accidents and deaths on the roads, and promoting better road safety awareness. On Friday, Traffic Chief Moore said, “Safeway has borne us some amount of fruit.
“To date, we are at a 22 per cent decrease in accidents and 20 per cent decrease in deaths, in comparison to the same period last year,” he said.
From January to September 2017, the GPF had recorded 65 accidents with 72 deaths. Speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol remain the leading causes of accidents on the roadways.
“It is not pleasing, but it’s a great achievement, and we are looking forward to the continued support from members of the public to further reduce accidents and deaths by the end of this year,” Moore said.
When Safeway was launched, the GPF had already recorded 89 accidents with 96 deaths. There was a 33 per cent increase in fatal accidents and a 17 per cent increase in deaths compared to 2015.
The year 2016 was one of the deadliest for road users, with 116 fatal accidents resulting in 127 deaths by the end of that year.