Fatal accidents increase by 37% in 2020 – Police

…Govt to ensure traffic lights are functional, enhance safety features
…as Road Safety Week 2020 launched

Traffic Chief Ramesh Ashram on Monday disclosed that fatal accidents in Guyana for the year thus far have increased by a whopping 37 per cent when compared to the same time in 2019.

The statistics were revealed during the launch of National Road Safety Week, under the theme: “Stop Speeding; Don’t Drink and Drive. Stay Alive.”
“When we look at the comparison of last year and this year to date, we see clearly that there is a increase in fatal accidents,” Senior Superintendent Ashram noted.
For the year 2020, there were 115 accidents, resulting in 125 deaths. From the fatalities, five were children. In comparison, the same period in 2019 recorded 84 accidents and 94 deaths. A significant amount of these accidents was caused by speeding and intoxicated drivers.

The Traffic Department has made a total of 46,266 cases against errant drivers thus far – 19,179 of the cases were for speeding, 786 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 1924 for breaching traffic light signals and 986 for failure to wear seat belts. Some cases were made out against persons who were using their mobile phones while driving.
He reiterated that the loss of so many lives for the year thus far is unacceptable.
“It is evident that needless loss of lives on our country’s road is not acceptable. It is testimony only to say that every life that is lost and injury received by a road use as a result of an accident will have an adverse effect on our lives, time and money or damage to property. In an effort to reduce these factors, all citizens of Guyana should adopt a holistic approach towards road safety,” he added.
He stressed that in order to enable safer roadways for both pedestrians and drivers, the traffic rules must be adhered to.
The Traffic Chief noted that emphasis was placed on the need to educate children on the safety rules when traversing roadways along with increased road safety awareness.

“We as road users need to change our attitude and driving habits, follow the traffic rules and guidelines and adopt disciplined road safety measures, which is important in promoting safe driving practice which play an effort in achieving safer roads, streets and highways.”
However, Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn shared that in order to detect positive results, there needs to be operational intervention and accountability.
“It is painfully obvious that similarly to the global COVID-19 pandemic, that an awareness of personal actions, responsibility and accountability, along with the actions and practices associated with road safety are key to reducing the incidents of road traffic deaths and injuries,” Benn voiced.
On the other hand, Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill told the gathering that they are working to fix all the non-operable traffic lights within the confines of Georgetown, and will soon extend this initiative to other key areas. His Ministry is also working to install specialised features at pedestrian crossings, which will assist the visually impaired.
He said under the previous Government, many of the units were malfunctioning. As such, the PPP/C Administration does not want to return to that “chaos and lawlessness”.
“One of the major initiatives that we are working on currently is to ensure that throughout Georgetown, our traffic lights are up, running and functioning well to allow for controlled flow of vehicular traffic and also to allow for safe movement of pedestrians while crossing major intersections,” the Minister indicated.
He noted that there have been many instances of theft, whereby persons have sought to remove the solar panels from these traffic lights. The Guyana Police Force has been asked to assist the Ministry in curbing this dilemma.