PEDESTRIANS have been the main victims of fatal accidents; and the primary causes of traffic accidents have been proven by statistics to be speeding and driving under the influence: But influence of what?

While speeding indisputably continues to be a major contributory factor to fatal accidents, correspondingly, drivers who are senses-impaired because of usage of drugs and/or alcohol have also been responsible for a major number of road accidents leading to fatalities, despite enhanced deployment of traffic policemen and consequential traffic enforcement by the police. However, errant motorists continue to be a major threat to themselves and other road users

Guyana had endorsed and advanced the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety with a goal to stabilise and then reduce the forecast level (prevent five million road traffic deaths globally) by 2020.
Yet the carnage contines unabated. Thus focus needs to be directed to the escalating practices of drinking and driving, as well as the issue of exceeding speed limits on our roads.
A social site lists six reasons why attention must be given to drinking and driving and drug use and driving, as follows:
*If you drive when a breathalyzer test would record the level of alcohol in your blood stream at twice the legal limit, you are at least 30 times more likely to cause a road crash than a driver who hasn’t been drinking.
* Any amount of alcohol affects your ability to drive. There is no foolproof way of drinking and staying under the limi, or of knowing how much an individual can drink and still drive safely.
* Each person’s tolerance to alcohol depends on a range of factors: weight, gender, age, metabolism, current stress levels, whether they have eaten recently, amount of alcohol consumed.
* Drugs – whether prescription, over-the-counter or illegal — can all impair necessary driving skills, including vision, reaction time, judgment, hearing, and simultaneous task processing/accomplishment.
* Marijuana has been linked to an impaired ability to drive a vehicle, in that concentration is affected, and there is difficulty in perceiving time and distance, which can lead to the following: bad judgment, impaired reaction time, poor speed control, an inability to accurately read signs, drowsiness, and distraction. When marijuana is combined with alcohol, it creates greater impairment in areas such as reaction time and coordination.
* Cocaine may successfully mask fatigue, but high dosages impair judgment and interfere with a driver’s ability to concentrate. Coordination and vision are impaired, and there is an increase in impulsive behaviours, with tendencies to take more risks and create confusion within the user. A person using cocaine maintains the illusion of being alert and stimulated, although physical reactions are impaired.
Legislation has been enacted to deal with the twin sins of driving under the influence and excessive speeding. However, vigilance by traffic ranks and enforcement of the traffic laws against errant drivers is an imperative if the carnage on the roadways is to be decreased or, hopefully, cease.
Adequate deployment of traffic ranks, interventions to enforce legislation, deterrent policies and programmes – such as using undercover strategies by plainclothes ranks, could go a far way to curbing road law violations.
But most important is the adjunctive cooperation by members of the public who should be second-tier guards of public safety striving to regulate the behaviour of road users.

According to the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, strong drink/drive laws protect almost 70% of the world’s population. In addition, enforcement of drink-driving laws has been shown to be more effective when it includes random breath tests for all drivers (not just those suspected of drinking), and when it is carried out at times and in locations when drunk-driving is more likely to occur.
Such measures that increase drivers’ perception of the likelihood of being apprehended are key to the success of this intervention. That report noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) rated the enforcement of drink/drive laws in Guyana at 6 on a scale of 10.