The carnage on Guyana’s roadways continued over the weekend with another life being lost and an East Coast Demerara (ECD) family being plunged into mourning.
The Annandale, ECD home where the late Imran Khan resided
The latest casualty resulted from a vehicular accident that occurred on the Good Hope Public Road, ECD on Saturday evening, when pedestrian Imran Khan, 36, was reportedly struck and killed by a minibus being operated by an elderly man.
According to Police information, the fatal accident occurred at about 20:35h, and the 65-year-old driver and owner of minibus BHH 8465 – a resident of Cherry Lane, Melanie, ECD – detailed that he was proceeding west along the southern carriageway of the road when Khan “suddenly ran across the road” from south to north, collided with the left side of the vehicle, and fell onto the roadway.
Police related that Khan was picked up by the said driver in an unconscious condition and transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police further explained that the driver, who passed a breathalyser test, has been placed in custody as investigations continue.
When Guyana Times visited the late Imran Khan’s home — at Lot 161 Droom Street, Annandale North, ECD — relatives were said to be meeting with Police as the latter continued their investigations.
Khan’s death comes days after the “Stop The Tears” Campaign was launched last week by the National Road Safety Council of Guyana to reduce the high percentage of road deaths in Guyana.
This initiative has seen collaboration from the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Public Security Ministry, Public Health Ministry, Public Infrastructure Ministry, and several private sponsors.
At launch of this campaign, Deputy Police Superintendent Dennis Stephen had pointed out that 89 fatal accidents with a total of about 101 deaths were recorded for 2017. PAHO/WHO Representative Dr Paul Edwards had emphasised the worldwide impact of road deaths. He had cited statistics to back his observation that road traffic crashes are the main cause of death among people aged between 15 and 29.
He had also outlined that road traffic crashes constitute an important public health and development problem with significant health and socio-economic costs.
The WHO lists road carnage as the ninth leading cause of death across all age ranges on a global standpoint.
Vehicular accidents lead to the loss of over 1.2 million lives and over 50 million nonfatal injuries. Half of those who die are pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists.
“We need to ‘Stop The Tears’,” Coordinator of the National Road Safety Council, Ramona Doergen, has implored. “Road safety has become very dormant right now, people are not taking interest; we got to start knowing that this is a serious thing. Road safety is everybody’s business!”
