…as car crashes into vehicles at Blankenburg

By Rabindra Rooplall
A two-year-old boy and his seven-year-old sister were on Tuesday morning killed when the car they were in crashed into two parked vehicles along Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara Public road.
Dead are: seven-year-old Christine “Tina” Halley and two-year-old Mark Marvin Halley of Lot 33, Public Road Covent Garden East Bank Demerara. The 32-year-old driver, Mark Halley and the

mother of the children, Michel Miguel and a police constable, Casper Carter who were also in the vehicle were injured. The parents and the children were taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where the children were pronounced dead and later taken to Ezekiel Funeral Parlour.

The parents were then transferred in an unconscious state to the Georgetown Public Hospital where they were admitted. The police constable was taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was treated and discharged.

Reports reveal that Halley, who is a mason and part-time taxi driver, was driving a Toyota Primo PVV 38 heading to Parika, East Bank Essequibo to drop off the police constable who is stationed in Bartica. He was carrying his family along for the drive.

According to police, there is a section of the road in Blankenburg which is presently under construction, 200 yards into that section which has “crush and run” building materials. It was there that Halley lost control of the vehicle resulting in him crashing into two other vehicles before landing in a nearby drain at 02:45hrs Tuesday morning.

The two other vehicles damaged in the process were a Tundra pickup GLL 1610 and a minibus that was converted into a goods van PJJ 9883. “Is like the man car sandwiched its way between the two vehicles before crashing into the drain,” one resident noted.

Reports disclosed that residents in the area immediately assisted by tying a rope on the badly damaged vehicle’s door and ripping it off with the assistance of another vehicle. Mark Halley sustained internal injuries to the head and stomach and Michel Miguel received cuts to the head and other injuries about the body. They were unconscious for several hours while undergoing treatment at the medical institution.

Tuesday morning accident comes one day after a two-vehicle collision at the corner of Garnett and Sheriff Streets in Campbellville, Georgetown claimed the life of 4-year-old Abiola Providence of Newtown, Kitty. Reports indicate that Providence and two of her relatives were in the back seat of the vehicle as it proceeded south on Sheriff Street; and as the car stopped at the centre of the junction preparatory to turning west, motor vehicle GPP 3500, which was proceeding north, collided with the left of the car, resulting in the infant being flung through the window and onto the roadway. Rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her two relatives, Abiola Trotman and Cheryl Williams, suffered injuries and have been admitted as patients at the GPHC.

Then on Sunday night two other persons succumbed to injuries when the vehicle in which they were travelling collided with a horse on the Leeds Public Road, Corentyne. The impact of the collision caused the Toyota Raum in which they were occupants to turn turtle and catapult off the road.

The men were allegedly seen imbibing earlier in the evening and after the driver had reportedly lost control of the vehicle and hit the horse, the vehicle landed on the bridge of a nearby resident, and persons rushed to the scene to assist the men.

Only last week police reported that “unfortunately the Guyana Police Force has yet again seen an increase in road fatalities. Eighty-seven fatalities have been recorded at the end of August this year, which are seven more than the same period last year.” According to the police there was a reduction in serious and minor accidents but again an increase in damage accidents. Speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and inattentiveness continue to be the main causes of fatal accidents.

Police said that traffic enforcement is continuous countrywide, with special emphasis on driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, music/breach of condition of road service licence, overloaded minibuses and use of cellular phones, the Force said. Also the lecture to schools programme, and visible patrols at school areas are ongoing.

The Guyana Police Force said too that it has charged 48,585 persons with traffic offences so far this year. This includes 18,053 for speeding of which 7, 133 have been fined; 1,168 for driving under the influence of alcohol of which 268 have been fined; 1,108 for unlicensed drivers of which 631 have been fined; 2, 016 for overloaded minibus of which 872 have been fined and 476 for using cell phones whist driving, of which 268 have been fined.

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