– Road Safety Council calls for end to reckless driving

EIGHTY-FIVE persons, among them six children, have been killed in road accidents already for 2019 – an increase, when compared to the deaths recorded in 2018, Coordinator of the National Road Safety Council, Ramona Doorgen, disclosed as she called for an end to the reckless use of the country’s roads.

In an interview on Guyana Chronicle’s online programme – Vantage Point on Monday, Doorgen explained that in 2018 a total of 92 road fatalities were recorded from 79 accidents. Already for 2019, 85 deaths were recorded from a total of 75 accidents. The number of children killed in these vehicular accidents has also increased. Doorgen pointed out that in 2018 three children were killed in road accidents while noting that the figure has since doubled.

According to the Guyana Police Force, the leading causes of traffic mishaps in the country, are speeding and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Other major causes are driving while distracted by use of a cellphone, pedestrian inattentiveness, and failure to heed traffic signs and warnings.

Though there are established ‘Speed Limits’ across the country – 50 km/h in the towns and along sections of the East Bank Demerara (EBD) corridor – Doorgen said some drivers are in the habit of surpassing the ‘Speed Limits,’ thereby putting their lives and the lives of others at risk. Speaking directly to drivers, through the online platform, Doorgen pleaded with them to drive within the speed limits.

“We at the Road Safety Council always say that the onus is on us, the individual, because we don’t have to wait on the police to say slow down, we have the…speed limit signs, the markings, the double line, and those things are telling us not to overtake because it is dangerous to do so,” she said.

It was speeding that led to the tragic Friendship, EBD crash that claimed the lives of five persons on October 15, 2019, when a police vehicle slammed into a private car. Days later, on Saturday, October 26, 2019 another smash-up, this time in Linden, Region 10, claimed the lives of two persons. That accident involved an ambulance and a private car.

To prevent accidents, especially those involving emergency vehicles – be it a police car, ambulance, fire engine or prison van – the National Road Safety Council is working with Clarke’s Productions and the National Road Safety Council of Trinidad to develop a training programme proposal for submission to the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Public Health and the Guyana Police Force. On Monday, Doorgen met with Adrian Clarke of Clark’s Production and JARIC Defensive Driving expert, Eric Kipps to streamline the proposal.
“Even though you are a driver, you are still not qualified to drive an emergency vehicle because there are things that emergency drivers must look for,” Doorgen said as she underscored the importance of training. Added to that, the Road Safety Council Coordinator said the proposal will include recommendations for the use of ambulances by health personnel as she expressed concern that while patients are “strapped down” to stretchers, nurses and doctors may be at risk if they do not have access to seat belts.

President David Granger, in ordering the inquiry into the Friendship accident, had said that steps will be taken to ensure that regulations and Standing Operating Procedures are upheld when emergency vehicles are in use. He said too that emphasis will be placed on inspections and the careful selection and training of drivers.

Aside from the proposal that is being crafted, the National Road Safety Council, for the past 14 years, has been working with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, along with organisations such as ‘Mothers in Black’, to curb the reckless use of the country’s roads. With a number of studies done and recommendations made, Doorgen said it is time for implementation.

“Consultants, in the past, recommended training for drivers, fits management training, education, public awareness, mass media campaigns, (and) road safety curriculum in a big way in the schools,” Doorgen pointed out while explaining that while some recommendations, such as training and public awareness, were implemented, there are other recommendations that must be acted upon.

The government’s decision to construct overpasses and expand some of the country’s main access roads ought to be applauded she said, given the increasing number of vehicles on the roads. However, she believes that there are need for alternative routes, and strict implementation of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act. Persons speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and engaging in the reckless use of the road should feel the full force of the law.

Recalling the case of 7-year-old Ciara Benjamin, Doorgen said parents or guardians who fail to protect their children from harm resulting in death as a result of road accidents, should also be held responsible. “I am not being a beast here but those children’s bloods are crying out from the road,” Doorgen said, while submitting that irresponsible parents must also be held responsible. However, as an alternative to jail time, Doorgen suggested community service.

As the council prepares to observe National Road Safety Month in November and World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims, it is cautioning road users to demonstrate care and consideration. “Use the five C’s – Care, Caution, Consideration, Common Sense and Courtesy, and once we use those five C’s definitely we will have better drivers, and better pedestrians. Pedestrians also need to use the five Cs. Pedestrians need to know that the white line there is not your right away to cross. That white line is governed by a rule, and the rule is: look right, look left, and look right again if the road is clear then you walk quickly across the road. We even tell the children, listen, and if you don’t hear anything coming then you walk, quickly across the road,” the coordinator said.
The Friendship accident claimed the lives of Policeman Ronel Barker; Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant, Leon Tucker; Lovern Stoby, a member of the Special Constabulary and Herbert Josiah and his wife, Denise Josiah. In Linden, last Saturday’s accident claimed the lives of Nurse Eon Reddock and 20-year-old Tristan Clarke.

The Guyana Police Force has not released statistics on vehicular accidents in the country of recent but President Granger had noted that over the last 15 years, more than 2,000 Guyanese have been killed on the roadways.