After 49 road fatalities…
POLICE Deputy Traffic Chief John Daniels yesterday urged drivers to desist from speeding and drinking and driving.
His exhortation followed increasing incidents of road fatalities that have, so far, this year, claimed 49 lives, including those of four children.
The Police Superintendent pointed out that one of the main contributors to the accidents and fatalities is inattentiveness but speeding and drinking and driving are the most common.
Speaking about the accident in which Police Corporal Sherwin Denny, 40, was killed Sunday afternoon, Daniels said it occurred shortly after 15:00 h, as the victim and a group of friends were proceeding to the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
He said Denny was the front seat passenger in the right side of the left hand drive pick-up that slowed in the vicinity of Pearl, East Bank Demerara, when a motor car, which was being driven behind, hit their vehicle off the road.
Daniels said, at that point, the pick-up driver, Patrick De Freitas lost control of it and, as a result, it struck a concrete culvert and ditched in a trench.
Denny was pulled from the mangled pick-up but was unresponsive and, later, pronounced dead on arrival at the Diamond, East Bank Demerara Regional Hospital.
Daniels related that, consequent to the collision, Denny was pushed forward in the vehicle and suffered severe head and stomach injuries.
His close friend, Michael Whyte, 25, escaped with minor injuries about the body but the man (De Freitas) at the wheel of the motor car is a patient at Woodlands Hospital in Georgetown.
Both vehicles are lodged with the Police pending investigations.

The police are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at about 15:30 h on Sunday, June 27, 2010, at Pearl Village, East Bank Demerara, which resulted in the death of Police Corporal Sherwin Denny, 40, of Bartica Police Station.

Investigations revealed that motor pickup GLL 6149, driven by Patrick De Freitas, 45, of Waterloo Street, Georgetown, was proceeding along the roadway with motor car PKK 5014 driven by Warrick Joseph, 29 years of Regent Street, Georgetown, behind. As the driver of the pickup slowed down at a bridge in the area, the motor car collided with the rear of the pickup causing De Freitas to lose control of the vehicle which ended up in a nearby trench.

Sherwin Denny, who was in the motor pickup, and Patrick De Freitas received injuries and were taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where Sherwin Denny was pronounced dead on arrival,  while Patrick De Freitas was admitted for medical treatment.

The driver of the motor car is in police custody assisting with the investigations.

Daniels told the Guyana Chronicle that, despite many warnings, people continue to drink and drive and speak on cellular phones while driving.
He also urged passengers to report incidents of speeding to the police and advised them to ask the driver of the vehicle to reduce speed if they feel the driver is speeding.

Meanwhile, the other policeman, Corporal Bertrand Edwards, 53, who succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, June 23, following the June 8,accident was buried on Tuesday and the Police are awaiting advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the matter.
The driver implicated in that fatality is on $50,000 station bail.
Edwards was riding his motorcycle along Mandela Avenue, in the city, when he was struck by a ‘Toyota IST’ motor vehicle which was travelling at a fast rate when the driver made a sudden turn in Edwards’ path, towards Alexander Village. Edwards suffered a crushed right leg.

On Sunday too, police have launched an investigation into a fatal accident that occurred at about 21:10 h on the Embankment Road at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, and which resulted in the death of motor cyclist Lakeraj Kusheva, 21, of Good Hope.

Investigations have revealed that Arjune Ramcharitar of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, was about to enter his mini-bus and as he opened the driver’s door the motor cyclist collided with the door and also struck down Ramcharitar.

Lakeraj Kusheva and Arjune Ramcharitar were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where Kusheva was pronounced dead on arrival, while Ramcharitar was admitted for medical attention.