A West Ruimveldt, Georgetown man is the latest death in a series of road accidents as the carnage continues on our roadways. Like many other accidents that have occurred over the past two months, he was speeding, lost control, crashed and, unfortunately, died. The high number of road deaths are in addition to the numerous injuries as a result of accidents along with the pain and suffering left behind. The sudden and shocking death of someone close, especially due to an accident, can never be easy. The ensuing excruciating pain and mental trauma that are inflicted on surviving relatives can be unbearable.
In a fleeting moment, families are plunged into sadness and despair, having received the dreadful news that an accident took the life of someone dear to them. The reality is, people, including those who survived an accident, suffer in unimaginable ways.
We are very much concerned about the number of persons losing their lives on our roadways. Too many families have been broken as a result of losing a loved one due to road accidents, most of which could have been avoided.
The Government has enacted the relevant legislation in relation to driving under the influence, loud music in vehicles, overloading, speeding, etc, but if the laws are not adequately enforced, they become useless. Given what has taken place over the past few weeks, one could not be faulted for concluding that the results of the accidents may not have inspired more responsible behaviour.
We are indeed convinced that the efforts being made by law enforcement and other authorities to reduce the alarming rate of road accidents are not being taken seriously by road users and thus not achieving the desired results.
The reasons for the high rates of road accidents are well known, and there is no need to rehash them here except to say that there are various factors which impact on road safety.
It was hoped that with the passage of the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2022, which has toughened existing laws to prevent drunk driving and the carnage on the road, there would have been a major impact on our roadways and the mindset of our drivers.
On a daily basis, many drivers use the roadways in a very reckless manner thereby endangering occupants and other road users; and not the least of all, themselves. It becomes painful even to see how they manoeuvre, seemingly, without an iota of care for others.
It would be interesting to find out how many of the drivers/conductors who are stopped for breaking a traffic law/s are actually charged and brought before the courts.
Again, it brings into question the role of law enforcement to try and curb such irresponsible behaviour, especially since some traffic violations do occur in the presence of Police. Many of those violations involve a minibus.
We had also made the point before that Guyanese need to move away from the culture of disregard and irresponsibility in relation to using the roadways. The Education Ministry and other relevant stakeholders should examine the possibility of strengthening the schools’ curriculum with the aim of increasing knowledge, skills, and understanding among children and young people about the responsible use of our roadways. Similar efforts should also be made targeting the adult population, as they too are sometimes found to be irresponsible when using our roadways.
For a small country such as ours, we cannot afford to continue along this path. The number of deaths and disabilities as a result of road accidents is indeed very worrying, and something must be done urgently to bring a halt to the level of irresponsibility and recklessness on our roadways.
Some weeks ago, the Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC) said that it continues to promote road safety and encourage responsible driving while adding that it will be collaborating with the Guyana Police Force to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities by 50 per cent this year. We look forward to them achieving this figure.
