Corrective measures must be taken

ANOTHER Good Friday is upon us and another death anniversary for the slain pedestrian Romona Harris. We all can remember the horrible story that greeted us that Good Friday, of a young mother who was mowed down by a speeding drunken driver. It was vehicular homicide of the worst kind because after the impact instead of rendering assistance to another human being that motorist fled the scene.
Luckily, passersby were able to catch a glimpse of the vehicle’s number which was reported to the police. They were able to track down the owner who gave them a tall tale of “a cousin” who was the driver of the said vehicle at the time of the accident, one who has long since left for his overseas abode.
That was quite a story coming from someone who fled the scene of an accident, having the audacity to come up with such a novel answer. The fact is, but for the quick response of an eyewitness who was able to record the plate number of the fleeing driver, no one would have known who killed Romona Harris.
If that is not all, the situation becomes more distressing when you find out that the police themselves bought into this kind of foolishness because no charges were laid on that owner, and nothing ever came out of that case, well there was never a case.
My knowledge of the law is that the owner of the vehicle would have been held to be the driver of that vehicle, until he/she the owner can prove otherwise that’s the way the law operates. He said (people say lots of things) that it was his cousin who drove the car, then prove it. The law can only deal with what is known and that is the vehicle’s owner was the driver and not some fictitious cousin. This seemingly “wrongful identification” of the suspect could have been easily cleared up had he not fled the scene.
Since Miss Harris’ death there have been so many miscarriages of justice when it comes to road accidents. Victims and the police once again are at the centre of it all. There is the Delano Williams killing of a pedestrian standing at the side of the road, the result of a drunken driver who thought the roadway is a racetrack; nothing came out of that matter.
There are three known cases in Linden where the reckless action of drunkenness and speeding resulted in death to innocent road users with no punishment for the accused. As we speak there is a matter before the courts involving Magistrate Ramdhani for driving under the influence and causing an accident. In fact, that magistrate had the gall to bluntly refuse the breathalyser test then later on his own volition walk free from the police.

Again, I must state my utter disgust at the way accident cases are treated by some police officers. Their action speaks volumes of a corrupt group who would easily drop investigations or simply bungle it to exonerate the guilty. The Ramdhani matter is a case in point where the magistrate was given safe passage by the police to flagrantly disregard the law, no doubt about that.
I think (stand corrected)  under the Guyana’s constitution one can refuse the breathalyser test – he is covered by the law when doing so – however, this is with dire consequences when that matter comes up for hearing as the court will take it that you were drunk.
But far more revealing is the fact that one can walk free of police detention is preposterous. It just shows you how corrupt some police officers are and something must be done to that officer or officers who allow the law to be so openly violated.
This brings me to the salient question why so many traffic offences go unpunished? The answer is filthy lucre. It is so obvious that there are officers in the force who are willing to forego their sacred responsibility to the public in safeguarding the rights of the victims that proper investigation is carried out as well as air tight charges laid. Failing this we will see more cases like Romona Harris. I call on the DPP, the Minister of Home Affairs as well as the Minister of Legal Affairs to look into this grave injustice and institute corrective measures immediately.

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