GUYANESE are being urged to take more precautions when traversing the roadways, given that for this year a total of 109 persons have lost their lives due to road accidents.This announcement was made by Traffic Chief Dion Moore during the launch of National Road Safety Month 2016, done under the theme “Life does not have a reset button, drive carefully.” This theme was touted throughout the programme, as officials sought to usher in the month with the hope of reducing the number of road accidents.

According to Moore, as opposed to last year, when 82 road accidents were recorded and 96 deaths were occasioned, this year’s statistics stand at 90 accidents and 109 deaths, and there are yet two months remaining in this year. He indicated that these figures showed a rise of 21 per cent in accidents and 14 per cent in deaths.

The figures were deemed unacceptable by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, who noted that Guyana has the highest suicide, domestic violence and gun-use rates in the Caribbean, and this upward trend in road fatalities might even add to that list.

“In order to curb this situation, we need to work on improving individual responsibility, given that this is the only way we can move forward,” the minister admonished.

Making reference to a Guyana Chronicle article, the Minister said that lack of care costs a lot, given that for this year a sum of $4.3 Billion has been spent because of accidents. That money, he said, could have been spent to develop other sectors which need the support.
He said that if persons were to take their responsibilities seriously, the situation would be remedied.

Speaking about the progress of Operation Safeway, Minister Ramjattan said there have been decreases in accidents and increases in charges, with 679 persons being charged in a month for improperly using the roads.

Statistics show that, for this year, a total of 56,695 persons had been charged for improper use of the roads; whereas last year a total of 47,911 persons had been so charged. Charges include reckless driving.

Though the number of persons charged has increased this year, the Minister condemned the increase in road fatalities and called on all stakeholders to take charge and ensure that betterment prevails.

PAHO/WHO Officer Jean Alexandre and Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, expressed similar views, noting that more stringent systems were needed to fight road accidents.

Ferguson indicated that the system by which drivers’ licences are issued needed to be revisited, while a demerit system needed to be implemented.

And members of the Guyana National Road Safety Council highlighted that they have a packed list of events for this month, and would hope to even target schools in order to sensitize the youths on road safety.