ROAD hogs are in the habit of causing accidents, then disregarding and/or abusing victims as a norm, and until the citizenry of the land join the police and the judiciary in a collaborative campaign to get road hogs off the road before they take even more lives than they currently do, no one can feel safe when they leave their homes, even if they themselves engage in safe practices on the roadways.

Chronicle and the staff at GNNL would be initiating and sustaining a campaign in an attempt to attract the attention of the authorities to the urgent need to deal condignly with road hogs who treat other road users with disdain, even to the point of endangering their well-being, beginning with incidents in which myself and Chronicle reporter, Shirley Thomas, were involved.

Shirley is one of the most ladylike women I know. She is courteous to a fault and well-liked by everyone with whom she interrelates.

However, an accident in which she was injured, with no redress – not even an apology, nor an enquiry from the driver has tried even her patience.

On her way to work one day Shirley was standing at the corner of Vlissengen Road opposite Lama Avenue, patiently waiting to cross the road into Lama Avenue, where the offices of Guyana National Newspapers Ltd (GNNL) – the home of Chronicle where she works, are located.

A woman driving a RAV 4, licence number PLL 1847, suddenly began reversing against the one-way traffic and slammed into Shirley, severely injuring her arm.

The next day, when pain and other after-effects, which included swelling and severe bruising of her arm, forced Shirley to report the matter, she discovered that the woman, whose name she knows, had not reported the accident.

The traffic rank never followed up the matter and the woman, who had been provided contact address and telephone number for Shirley never once called to apologise or to enquire about the extent of her injuries, which had disallowed her from working for a while.

One apology to Shirley would have ended the matter right there, but the woman is one of the distinctive breed of arrogant road-hogs, who show scant regard for other road users, who need to be taught a severe lesson before they kill someone with their vehicles, which is a very potent weapon in their hands.

Yesterday morning Shirley was covering her normal hospital beat and I decided to accompany her for observational purposes.

Afterwards we had a meal in the restaurant opposite the entrance to the emergency section of the hospital while we awaited transportation back to the office.

When Chronicle’s vehicle pulled up a few feet away behind a parked vehicle, Shirley and I began walking toward it in single file, with Shirley in front, bearing in mind the congestion on the street.

I suddenly felt a glancing blow on my left elbow that engulfed my entire left arm in excruciating pain. Priya Nauth, who was in the backseat of our vehicle looking back at Shirley and I, said she saw when Route 45 minibus, licence No. BGG 9465, hit me from behind.

However, instead of apologising for hurting me, the driver began abusing and threatening me, saying to the effect that if I had broken his mirror then the outcome would have been different and that he would not have let me walk away freely.

He followed our car and stopped alongside when our driver stopped at the major crossing, continuing his threats and abuses.

At the moment I am typing with basically one hand, as my left arm is very painful, but I would not waste my time reporting this matter to the police station, as I might end up like Shirley, waiting in vain long after the accident, for either an apology or redress.

The staff of GNNL are asking the citizens of the land to join us in our campaign to disallow road-hogs from getting away with their thoughtless and even dangerous behaviour, which has become endemic in the society, by informing us about instances where any road-user has been guilty of traffic violations that could have proven inimical to the safety of either pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

Once we are provided a licence number and can verify the truth, we will publish the details of the incident.