38 motorcyclists,7 pillion riders killed so far this year – Police

…75% of deaths a result of not wearing safety helmet

Thirty-eight motorcyclists and seven pillion riders have lost their lives on Guyana’s roadways so far in 2025, with police saying that most of those killed were not wearing helmets at the time of their accidents. The statistics were announced on a recent episode of Police and You.
“For the year 2025, we have lost 38 motorcyclists and seven pillion riders while using the road,” said Inspector Richard Trotz, Traffic Education Officer at Traffic Headquarters. “In most of these accidents, investigation has revealed that about 75 per cent of them were not wearing safety helmets to afford them a protection if their head comes into contact with the road surface,” he disclosed.

The alarming statistics have prompted renewed calls for riders and passengers to take responsibility for their safety. Chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) Earl Lambert, who hosted the programme, stated that while police have been conducting enforcement exercises, many continue to ignore helmet laws.
“Multiple motorcycle exercises [were] done with more than 100 offences established and 40 tickets issued for failure to wear safety helmet,” he said, noting that in many cases, riders “prefer to carry helmet on [the] handle rather than wearing it.” Lambert urged the public to look inward instead of placing all the blame on the police. “Many a times we criticise the police… but I need to ask the question, are you playing your role? You have relatives, you have friends who own motorcycles… and many a times when these people are riding the motorcycle they don’t even think about their own lives,” he asserted. He reminded viewers that the consequences of unsafe riding ripple far beyond the individual. “The life loss comes with a cost… if you look at the amount of time that person could have lived and the contribution they would have made to society…” he noted. Inspector Harold Devieria, attached to the traffic department at the Brickdam police station, also speaking on the programme, said the lack of patience and disregard for basic safety measures are fuelling preventable deaths. “It all comes back to our drivers on the roadway, as it relates to whether we can manoeuvrer in a situation. And something I would have learned over the years as a police officer, we [drivers] don’t have patience…”, he said. He echoed the earlier sentiments of Lambert, warning that blame is often misplaced. “Who is getting the blame? The police. But at the end of the day, it’s a life lost. We need to do the right thing… be proactive,” he said.
The Traffic Department, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and other stakeholders, has been pushing road safety campaigns such as No Limit on Life, Drive Smart, Live Full, which specifically targets motorcyclists between the ages of 18 and 35, the group most affected by fatal crashes.
Lambert closed the discussion with a sobering reminder: “Today, it might be me. Tomorrow, it might be you.”