Enforce the laws and make Guyana’s roads safer

Dear Editor,
I am fortunate to have visited countries in the Caribbean, South America, North America and Europe, and I can say without fear of contradiction that I have never seen or experienced the level of contempt, disrespect and disregard for traffic laws like what I experience daily in Guyana.
You get the distinct impression that the traffic Policemen are there only to direct traffic at busy intersections, and take statements after accidents have occurred, assuming that there is no settlement for damages among the affected parties.
On a daily basis, while driving, you MUST encounter the following:
* Motorcyclists riding without helmets past stationary Policemen, as well as those that may be mobile (on motorcycles or in a car or pickup). They even pull up and stop at an intersection controlled by a stationary traffic rank as if it is the norm.
* Drivers, especially of taxis and minibuses, do not want to stop at major roads, and brazenly drive up against the traffic, causing unnecessary obstruction and delay.
* Vehicles, especially minibuses and taxis, undertaking on Homestretch Avenue as if it is the norm, without any care in the world.
* If there is a line formed, there are drivers, especially of minibuses and taxis, who believe they have the God-given right to form a second and even a third lane, in clear violation of the law, without any care; and they do so with reckless abandon.
* Recently, truck drivers can be observed not yielding at the roundabout, and some of them drive as though they are competing with minibuses or taxis to reach their destination.
I am absolutely sure that everyone reading this letter can relate to the abovementioned, and are as disgusted and fed up with them as I am. It is as though Guyana has descended into the realm of lawlessness comparable to that of a failed state, with clear indications of things getting worse, instead of better.
It is clear for everyone with common sense to conclude that this lawlessness is one consequence of a total lack of law enforcement, and violators know there are no repercussions to their illegal actions. That is, as long as they are not involved in an accident.
The Commander of D Division commented in an article published on 2023-10-25 that road fatalities in his division have increased by over 300% in 2023. Motorcyclists are losing their lives like they have lost nothing; and in most, if not all cases, they were riding without helmets.
Almost every single day, there are accidents that occur as a consequence of carelessness and reckless driving, and the current situation is an indictment on the Guyana Police Force. Every once in a while, you read of these “dibby-dibby” exercises in which a certain amount of vehicles are caught with “this” or “that”, and then you hear nothing else. Meanwhile, it’s back to the abnormal as normal, and I dare say it gets even worse.
There has to be a solution to this confounded nonsense. Order must be restored on our roads. The following needs to be done, and done with alacrity:
1: The cameras that are installed all over the place need to be used to capture instances of recklessness, which should result in the lawbreakers without exception being summoned to court and dealt with according to the law.
2: Implement mechanisms where recorded infractions by private citizens on their dash cam or cell phones can be used as evidence to prosecute these lawless drivers. In this way, they will know that their stupid and disgusting actions can be recorded, and they will face prosecution for them.
3: In cases where there are repeat offenders, the state should benefit from their stupidity by sentencing them to do community work, primarily cleaning drains as well as streets.
4: Where there is evidence to show impropriety on their part, any Police officer should suffer a similar fate, as well as having their services terminated.
This situation needs to be addressed urgently, and the Guyana Police Force needs to arrest this decline and restore respectability and relevance with urgency. The current Commissioner should seek to ensure that his legacy is not one in which lawlessness abounded beyond comprehension, but one in which respect for law and order was restored during his tenure.
The Guyanese public deserves better than what currently obtains.

Yours truly,
Eric Whaul