DO NOT ride on a motorcycle unless there is a proper safety helmet to protect the head in the event of an accident, acting Traffic Chief, Boodnarine Persaud advises all motorcyclists, as he noted the need for pillion riders, especially to heed this call.According to the acting Traffic Chief, for the year up to the beginning of June, 14 motorcyclists and 4 pillion riders were killed in accidents. For the same period there were 58 accidents resulting in 62 deaths compared to 36 accidents with 48 deaths for the same period last year. However, overall there has been a 29% increase in fatalities.

‘A’ Division is the leading division for fatal accidents, with 20 out of the 58 accidents, followed by ‘C’ Division with 13 and West Demerara with eight. Berbice has recorded a reduction in accidents.

Persaud said that most of the persons on motorcycles, who were killed in accidents were not wearing helmets. “While there were some who were wearing, it was not properly strapped so when the collision occurred, it flung off their heads and it could not have protected them.” This, he said, results in death or brain haemorrhage and other internal head injuries. The survivors are mainly those persons who were wearing a helmet.

“Riding without helmets is dangerous; they (motorcyclists) are always the vulnerable group because they are injured in the slightest collision,” he explained.

The Motorcycles (Protective Helmets) Regulations, Section 3 (1) of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 51:02 states that: “The driver of, and every person carried on, a motorcycle on a road shall wear a safety helmet capable of affording protection to the head of the wearer from injury in the event of an accident.”

Many people can survive a broken limb, he said, but “we have to bear in mind the traffic on the road and that without the helmets; they (bikers) have no other form of protection.”
CHILDREN AS PILLION RIDERS

In the meantime, the Guyana Police Force has expressed concern about the practice of motorcyclists with children as pillion riders who do not wear safety helmets and have their feet dangling dangerously close to the spokes of the rear wheel of the motorcycle.

While acknowledging the difficulty with transportation at times, the police are also expressing concern over the towing of too many persons on a motorcycle. Under such circumstances control of the vehicle will be difficult and this can result in accidents and even death.

And while calling on road users to have a responsible attitude and to use all the necessary precautions to avoid accidents, the acting Traffic Chief noted that now the weather has changed and persons are driving on wet roads, they must reduce their speed because the stopping distances lengthen in wet conditions.

Meanwhile, this newspaper recalls that motorcyclist Shemroy Anthony, 20 years, lost his life in April after he slammed into a horse that was also killed while he was heading out of Mocha/Arcadia, East Bank Demerara.

In the same month another two persons were killed and three others were injured in a three-vehicle smash-up. The mangled bodies of 23-year-old Rudolph Bess of 620 Kaneville, EBD, who was riding motorcycle CH 378 and his pillion rider 16-year-old Hansranie Persaud of Grove Housing Scheme, EBD, suggest that they died instantly at the crash site. Persaud’s right leg was found about 13 feet away from her body, while Bess’s skull was crushed.

In April also, 18-year-old pillion rider Major Cunjah died in a motorcycle accident on the Aurora Public Road, Essequibo Coast after the motorcycle crashed.