–amidst rising road fatalities

THE Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC) recently expressed grave concerns about the alarming number of road deaths occurring on the country’s roads, citing poor driving as a major contributory factor.Acting Vice-Chairman of the GNRSC, Dennis Pompey told reporters on Friday at a press conference at Red Cross headquarters at Eve Leary, Georgetown, about their concerns about carnage on Guyana’s roads and highlighted the plans to reduce road fatalities/accidents in their respective divisions countrywide.

Pompey said further that pedestrians, motorists, and pedal cyclists also share the blame because they are not using the roads properly and as such contribute to the alarming number of road deaths.

He also reflected on several recent accidents which claimed the lives of several persons to highlight the point about carelessness on the roads and the result of drunk driving and speeding.

He reported that for the year 2014 so far, there were 77 accidents with 84 deaths, with 10 being children, and for the corresponding period last year, there were 61 accidents with 64 deaths, and six were children.

Giving a breakdown of the statistics, Pompey disclosed that in ‘A’ Division there were 30 accidents with 33 deaths; in ‘B’ Division there were 14 accidents with 16 deaths; ‘C’ Division – nine accidents with nine deaths; ‘D’ Division – 12 accidents with 12 deaths; ‘E’ Division – three accidents with four deaths, ‘F’ Division – two accidents with two deaths and ‘G’ Division – seven accidents with eight deaths.

Pompey said that, “we have seen an increase from last year and we are concerned and we appeal to all road users and members of the public to play their part in reducing road accidents and call on them to use the use roads correctly and to assist those young people, who are not conscious of about what is happening on our roads.”

Turning the spotlight on ‘A’ Division, GNRSC Treasurer, Bruce Haynes, who also represents that division, told reporters on Friday that habits once formed are hard to break as it relates to the attitudes of road users, particularly drivers.

He recommended that errant drivers be taken off the road and re-educated on the use of the road. He also said that education starts at home in the family to heighten consciousness on the roads in order to reduce the carnage.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Road Safety Association in ‘D’ Division, Shahab Hack told the press that they are concerned about the spate of road accidents and deaths on the roads, adding that within the past three months they have identified some of the causes such as speeding, excessive use of alcohol and people using the roads poorly.

DRUNK DRIVING

He said that they have taken a three-step approach to that problem and they have upped their enforcement activities with the police with nightly patrols and that has seen five to six drivers being taken to court daily for drunk driving.

Hack noted that they are working along with the police in the education aspect by going to schools and targeting drivers, visiting bus/car parks and doing advertisements for radio and television to enlighten the public on the use of the roads.

He stated that they have teamed up with the police to erect road signs between Vergenoegen and Parika, East Bank Essequibo and to repair broken road signs since the place is dark at nights in that area which has seen several road fatalities. The GNRSC is also calling for inter-agency collaboration to reduce road deaths and accidents.

Acting Chairman for the Linden Road Safety Association, Frederica Crawford in remarks said that while they have ongoing education programmes, they are concerned about the deterioration of the roads in Region 10, which is even worse when it rains.

She stated that as such they are working with the police to fill up the potholed roads and they have ongoing driver’s seminars to educate road users and drivers even at the family level, involving non-drivers.

Representative of GNRSC for East Bank Demerara, Eric Benjamin told the press that recently 30 pedestrian crossing signs were painted from Grove to Timehri and pedestrian and child crossing signs installed at schools and pedestrian walkways.

For East Coast Demerara, he said 46 pedestrian signs were painted and in excess of 50 road signs were repaired or straightened while bush and trees blocking road visibility were cleared. Benjamin pointed out that for West Coast Demerara, 34 pedestrian and child crossing signs were painted and in Linden 20 pedestrian signs were repainted.

In other remarks, GNRSC Coordinator Ramona Doorgen said that they are continuing with several training programmes as they feel they must educate and re-educate members and volunteers to do community work.

She said they have a packed agenda for the upcoming Road Safety month and they will also be visible at GuyExpo to plug road safety, besides continuing driver training and television programmes.
Meanwhile, Doorgen also called on more persons to become volunteers. The association will also be advocating for more laws as they continue their work with the police.
In conclusion, President of the Georgetown Road Safety Association, Victor Graham said that there is need for greater police presence on the roads at weekends and he also called for better roads in the city and proper parking as well.

(By Michel Outridge)