Region 6 Chairman calls for ‘stiffer’ penalties for errant road users

– says road fatalities in region show a 150% increase from 2021

Region Six Chairman, David Armogan has challenged the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to implement ‘stiffer’ penalties against errant road users.
His call comes as the Government is moving to update laws to clamp down on road users with the aim of ensuring that the roadways are safe, which would ultimately lead to fewer fatalities.

Armogan, who was at the time delivering an address at the official launch of National Road Safety Month in New Amsterdam, highlighted that road deaths in the region are 150 per cent more when compared to 2021.
“The word in the streets is that the increase in road fatalities is a result of the Police not doing enough…but I would say that the Police can only do so much and I believe the Police are doing enough on our roadways to ensure safety.”
This year Road Safety Month is being observed under the theme “Safe Driving Saves Lives”.
As such, the Regional Chairman stated that road safety month should be of prime importance not only to those who use the roads on a daily basis but to every single Guyanese.
“I join with others in remembering those who would have passed and the anguish and the pain, suffering, grief and trauma to the families of those who would have lost their loved ones on the roadways.”
The Chairman stated that some never recover from the emotions of losing a loved one as a result of a road accident. The economic blow it brings to some families, he said, is also severe and sometimes irreparable.
He stressed that education is needed to change the culture of road users while stressing that this should start at a very young age.
“The highest impact of education is when a student is at a young age and once you can inculcate that in the heads of those little children, after a while they will know this how we have to use the roads.”
Further, he pointed out that when persons become disabled it puts a dent in the economics of the country. Those persons, he noted, would have been able to make a contribution to the country’s development.
“People who would have been able to work and support their families; people who would have been able to create wealth for our country, these are people whose lives have been snuffed out – young people who had many more years to contribute to our country.”
Earlier this year, the Government tabled several Bills in the National Assembly, all aimed at curbing road fatalities. These legislative amendments include clamping down on bar owners who sell alcohol to drivers as well as to those drivers who drive under the influence.
The changes will also see drunk drivers now being charged with motor manslaughter and their licences being initially suspended and ultimately revoked for repeated offences.