MY attention was directed to a news item published in the Kaieteur News on February 4, 2013 headlined: ‘Unlicensed taxi driver guilty of 12 offences, faces 84 days in jail’. The headline is, of course misleading.

The defendant will not serve any time in jail because for each offence he was penalised with a monetary penalty and his relatives had gone to get money to pay the fine.
Reports of the court proceedings did not say whether he was charged with being an unlicensed driver, whereas the headline proclaimed him as such.
I am verily surprised and annoyed at the treatment of this offender by the learned magistrate. For resisting arrest he was fined $20,000, but on the charge of dangerous driving where he drove in that manner through the town of New Amsterdam, over the bridge into East Canje, he was fined $15,000. He should have been sentenced to at least three months preemptory imprisonment for the manner of driving, and an order denying him from obtaining a licence for at least 12 months. A licence is a revocable instrument and does not confer absolute right to a holder to do as he pleases.
Anyone caught driving while an order of disqualification is made must be sent to prison. It is akin to Contempt of Court. As is noted, he was an unlicensed driver and should have been charged for that offence together with the offence of ‘Breach of Insurance’. If the vehicle is not registered in his name the owner should be charged with permitting the breaches.
A few nights ago there was an accident at Mon Repos where two persons were killed, 17 injured and the damage to both vehicles tell a tale of wanton destruction occasioned by the force which visited them.
It is alleged that the driver of the vehicle that caused the mayhem was 17 years old and was driving, allegedly under the influence of drinks or drugs. He was charged, pleaded not guilty and was allowed bail in the sum of $7,500 – an amount which is similar to a fine for an overloaded vehicle. I am looking forward, with bated breath, as to how this case will pan out before our learned dispensers of justice.
Can the police say whether this 17-year old was issued a driver’s licence and if yes, how long ago? But the question is: Was this licence properly issued? This reminds me of a recent case in the USA where a 17-year-old drove his brand new vehicle, a gift from his parents, crashed and killed some of his friends. He was arrested and charged. And his parents were also arrested by the police investigating why permission was given him to drive.
The time is long past when the police should check on all drivers of public transport vehicles. They have perhaps forgotten that before one can get a licence to drive a hire car, mini bus, lorry, etc, he should have been the holder of a driver’s licence to drive private vehicles for at least two years, and must be of a certain age. Do we see any learner driver on the road with a qualified driver by his side? Yet daily we see new drivers on the roadways causing mayhem, death and destruction – and society remains silent.
What about the law banning drivers from using cell phones whilst driving? When the law was passed for seat belts to be a must there was some protest, but rigid enforcement has caused all drivers and passengers today to comply. Why not enforce the cell phone law? We also have what I call ‘blaring, blasting and disgusting sounds’ dignified by the term ‘music’ emanating from vehicles. The drivers, I am sure, cannot hear any other sound be it from another vehicle or pedestrians screaming at them. Have the police gone deaf because they are constantly assailed by the noise from those vehicles?
It is time swift and condign action is taken against defaulters to bring back sanity to the roadways.
I would suggest that government consider as a policy and disallow container trucks to travel and be on the roadways. Importers should use smaller means of transport to move stuff from the containers to their residences or business places. Our roads are not geared to take that kind of weight, and we find businessmen (importers) have these containers outside their business places where they take their own time to discharge stuff. Some are using the containers and business places and sell from them.