SUPERINTENDENT Linden Isles and officials from the Guyana Road Safety Council (GRSC) recently visited road- accident victims at the Georgetown Hospital (GPH) as part of activities to mark Road Safety Week.

The visit is a way for police and road safety officials to sympathise with road- accident patients and ensure that they are satisfied with police investigations into their matter.
The team consisted of mostly traffic ranks and officers from the Cops and Faith Community Network; they were accompanied by GRSC coordinator Ramona Doorgen and Chairman Shahab Hack and visited all the accident patients at the hospital and had brief chats with them.

Isles, while visiting the victims, ensured that traffic ranks checked on the status of investigations and to ensure that justice is served. He also advised accident victims follow through with their cases and encouraged them to make sure that they get their benefits from the relevant insurance companies. Road Safety Week was held under the theme, “Stop accidents before it stops you.” For this year alone, there are 103 recorded death son our roads.

On Thursday, a total of six victims were visited, including Parsaram Seepersaud. On October 14, 2018, Seepersaud was struck down along the Mahaica Public Road in the vicinity of KK Gas Station by a speeding police vehicle. “The driver was not paying attention,” Seepersaud told the traffic chief from his hospital bed after coming out from surgery a few hours before.

“Since this man [the officer] knock me down he left me on my own… he never came to me a night, I had to beg this man to come to talk to the police,” he injured man stressed.
Traffic Chief Isles assured Seepersaud that he will be looking into his matter personally to ensure that justice takes its course.

Meanwhile, another road accident victim Jaikaran Persaud was stuck down while crossing the Annandale, East Coast Demerara Public Road last December.

Persaud told Isles about his case as he explained that the driver of the vehicle in the accident had begged him to drop the matter and had agreed to help him with the hospital expenses.

However, when he came out of the hospital and driver charged his mind and told him “let the matter pass thought the court.” Consequently, the driver was sentenced to three months imprisonment while Persaud was left struggling with a financial burden and injuries to his left hand and foot. The traffic chief upon hearing Persaud’s story advised him to get the police report and take it into the driver’s insurance company and get compensation for his injuries.

In another case, truck driver Mohammed Kalamadeen suffered several injures resulting in him being confined to a hospital bed with several broken bones. Isle assured him that the police will be looking into the matter.

“We need to remember the five Cs in driving: care, courtesy, consideration, caution and common sense,” Isles said, as he urged persons to pool their efforts to prevent road accidents.

GRSC coordinator Ramona Doorgen also distributed t-shirts to the road-accident victims and urged them to be ambassadors in the ‘Stop the tears’ campaign and to help promote road safety.