WITH National Road Safety Month well into its first week, all systems are in place to facilitate heightened road safety practices, and schools are taking a lead role. To this end, a road safety enhancement exercise aimed at repainting pedestrian crossings near or outside of schools countrywide kicked off in the city at the weekend, and rippled across the East Bank and East Coast Demerara, the West Bank Demerara and other outlying areas.
The road safety fever is definitely catching on; and starting in Georgetown, there was a buzz of activity on the streets as groups were deployed to more than 15 schools to re-paint pedestrian crossings.  Before the end of the day, several other schools along the coastland were included in the exercise.
Spearheaded by the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), the exercise was done in collaboration with the Police Traffic Department and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and had the active participation of large numbers of the Road Safety Volunteers who were inducted last August.
At a ceremony held at the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, on August 18 last, some 400 volunteers were sworn in to help move the NRSC forward. They benefited from on-the-spot ‘break-out’ sessions, and more recently, 50 received further training in road safety practice at a seminar held at the Regency Suites in Hadfield Street, Georgetown.
NRSC Coordinator Ms. Ramona Doorgen expressed gratitude and satisfaction with both the level of interest shown and participation recorded, as the volunteers worked tirelessly to get the job done.
The mood of zeal and fervour which characterized yesterday’s activities was ushered in on Saturday last when the organizers initially took to the streets outside of Survival Supermarket on Sheriff Street. They, later in the morning, moved to West Ruimveldt Secondary School, where they painted the first set of pedestrian crossings.
Even though the NRSC has always initiated painting of road safety signs, this phase of the painting exercise was timely, since the National School Road Safety Patrol competition is now in its initial stages, and will run for the rest of the month, culminating on November 25, Doorgen said.
The competition will be centred on the performance of Safety Patrols as they help other children cross the road safely on their way to and from school.
Representatives of hundreds of schools across Guyana have been trained for this task, and will be seen routinely engaged therein before and after school. Their performances will be assessed by judges, who will turn up outside their schools unannounced over the next few weeks.
Schools interested in entering the competition are asked to contact the National Road Safety Council on 617-1525.  The competition was launched on November 1 to coincide with the beginning of National Road Safety Month.
A school patrol is a very serious and responsible undertaking, and is one in which patrol members control the flow of traffic approaching a pedestrian crossing or school crossing from either direction. Patrol members do this by extending the school patrol STOP signs onto the roadway in one or both directions, so that the word STOP is clearly displayed to any approaching driver. Once the traffic has stopped, they instruct the children and pedestrians to cross the road.
Motorists and pedal cyclists are asked to be on the look out for the patrols as they cross the children, and to cooperate with the instructions given. Importantly, motorists are asked to take note that when a patrol displays a stop sign, motorists must stop. If they do not, they are breaking the law, and will be reported. The motorist can be given a ticket to attend court. Patrols are allowed to stop traffic for anyone wishing to cross the road, as long as they are operating at their approved sites and within their authorized hours of duty.