THE reality of drunken driving once again hit home last Sunday for the families of five persons, all of whom were lucky to have cheated death after a horrific smash-up at Crane on the West Coast of Demerara.
But not everyone is as lucky to escape the jaws of death, and the worst part is that innocent lives are compromised when someone else drinks and drives – all the more reason for Guyanese drivers to take heed and STOP drunken driving.
Innocent people are put at risk because of the follies of those who disregard law and common sense.
More often than not the pleas for drivers to exercise good judgment and caution go unheeded because they are never affected, but fact is that these life changing incidents/accidents happen in a split second.
In a split second disregard for best practices either result in serious injury or death, at which time it is too late.
It seems that our drivers are caught in a dangerous cycle of complacency; they hear the warnings and see the blood curdling images of accidents and are better drivers for a few days, but revert to their old ways and carry on at a reckless pace.
Do drivers for hire ever consider that the few extra dollars they hustle is not worth a human life?
Are a few minutes too long a wait to ensure that you see another day?
Is the complacency not too high a price to pay for the tears of your husbands, wives and children who will mourn you and who will be left without your protection after you have raced to your death?
Serious contemplation of this reality will hopefully see our drivers making better use of the roadways.
And a point to note it that one time is all it takes; also, regardless of whether or not the driver is very experienced, drunken driving – especially coupled with speeding, which is usually the norm – could result in errors of judgement at critical and crucial moments, with disastrous consequences.
If a person plans to consume alcohol then he/she needs to designate another driver, or pay the cost of a taxi to get home, which would undoubtedly be a worthwhile investment.
According to the Laws of the Land, it is illegal to drive with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) that is 0.08 or higher, and drivers are considered to be alcohol-impaired when their BAC is .08 or higher. First time offenders are fined, the second time round one’s licence is suspendered for six months, and third time offenders have their licence permanently taken away.
However, it seems that these are not enough measures and the corruption that passes in some sections allows offenders to go unpunished for breaking the laws.
While there is no doubt that such practices cannot be entirely eliminated, stronger enforcement and sting operations can clamp down on corruption.
The programmes that are underway to curb ill-use of the roadways are laudable initiatives, but clearly more needs to be done.
Granted there are challenges, such as Traffic Departments being understaffed, but emphasis should be placed on strategizing to optimise on the resources that exist, rather than bemoan the lack of resources.
For example, plain-clothes ranks can be involved in intelligence gathering to find out what is happening on the roadways with the minibuses and trucks and, with more information on the actual day to day happenings, measures can then be put in place to trap the wrongdoers.
However, this effort to curb the dangerous practice of drunken driving must be a multi-dimensional approach and citizens need to step up to their social responsibilities and assist the Traffic Department by informing them of traffic violations.
Only recently, a bus driver and his conductor were each fined $60,000 each at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court for overloading a minibus and then abusing an elderly woman who refused to make space for the extras the duo wanted to have seated in the bus. The woman was asked to exit the vehicle and subsequently made a report to the police station and justice was served.
This is not drunken driving, but it is an example of one of the traffic violations, like others, which can be curbed if citizens lend a helping hand to law enforcers.
Up to November last year, Commander of ‘B’ Division Steve Merai disclosed, Berbice had the worst drunk driving record, nationally.
According to him, Berbice division has a record of over 400 drunk driving cases, with Georgetown, (‘A’ Division) being second with 160 cases, followed by East Coast Demerara (‘C’ Division) with just over a 100 cases. The West Coast of Demerara (‘D’ Division) has also recorded several DUI cases for this year.
The reality of drunken driving is a serious and painful one and drivers must be forced to stop their drunken driving and behave responsibly to prevent these recurring accidents where innocent persons become the victims of those who disregard the law.