ACCORDING to a news report, several persons were injured when a speeding route 47 East/West minibus toppled about two times, after smashing into another vehicle and landing upside down. One eyewitness said the driver “fly over de road as if he deh pon de race track.”

Listen to the words of the eyewitness, since I myself have seen these flying death traps going at tremendous speed. It is understood that the minibus driver failed to stop at the intersection of Evans and Lyng Streets.
I could be wrong that an erect red stop sign is not posted there. I hope I am wrong and there was one. Were there an erect stop sign there and the driver failed to stop then he must be held responsible and be jailed and banned from ever driving again. Candace Rowe, one of the passengers in the bus, said she was seated in the back seat with her 10-year-old daughter. They were heading home.
The woman said that right before the accident, she was speaking to persons seated next to her about the driver speeding. Poor woman must have been too afraid to speak out, for fear of incurring the wrath of both driver and bus conductor.
The woman said what she remembered was a loud crashing sound, and she quickly held on to her daughter, who suffered minor injuries. The woman said she noticed the conductor and another person, “fly through the bus window,” but it happened so fast. Rowe suffered a broken collar bone, and was at the time heading for additional medical attention.
In August, when I was in Guyana visiting, a young lady came to visit me in Georgetown. She took a taxi from my place to the East Coast bus park to go to her home in Enmore. I received a text message from her while she was in the bus on the East Coast highway saying, “the bus I am in is speeding real fast and I am scared”
I texted her back immediately, telling her to ask the driver to slow down and then let her off. She then texted me back telling me “I am scared they will cuss me what to do.” I then texted her and told her to use her phone and snap a photo of the bus speed needle.
She did as I said and the driver asked her why she did that and what would she do with that? She used her commonsense to tell the bus driver, “in case we crash the police will know you are speeding.” She then texted me again telling me the driver slowed down and she felt safe.
I can only imagine how afraid Candice Rowe and my young female friend felt if they spoke up about speeding in the very bus they were sitting. There seems to be no end to this madness in which innocent people pay their money only to be sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered.
This tells me that government must see it fit to bring back the big buses Guyanese had before, in order to be a government providing transport for its people. How many more must pay their fare to be on a mini-bus to await their death or bodily injuries?
Once again, I appeal to those in authority to place Erect Stop Signs at all intersections, where most drivers will see a stop sign in their faces, unlike those faded paint signs on the roads. It is high time government rethinks public transport for its people.