Dear Editor,

PLEASE permit me a small space in your newspaper to propose a solution which I believe will help us to reduce the number of reckless drivers we have on our roadways, causing serious harm.

Reckless drivers need GPS trackers or transponders to notify the police that they are speeding. In the US, the insurance company gives drivers GPS trackers to monitor their acceleration and how they apply brakes. These trackers help let the companies decide if you are a safe driver and whether they should increase or decrease your policy rates. I believe this should be implemented in Guyana.

This GPS tracker plugs into the vehicle’s diagnostic port under the dashboard to monitor how fast the vehicle is driving, or how fast it pulls off from a stop, or even how hard the driver presses the brakes.

According to the law in Guyana, all vehicles must be insured (as per the Third Party Risks Act) in order to be granted a licence. Due to this, I believe the insurance companies can play a greater role in curbing reckless driving.

If the insurance companies adopt these measures to force drivers to pull up their slacks, those insurance companies won’t have to pay for damage and loss of lives because they uninsured the buses and cars operated by drivers with bad records.

Furthermore, if the insurance company sees it’s not fit for you to drive, they can remove your policy and you won’t be able to drive in Guyana. So, this will help to reduce the amount of reckless driving, particularly those who depend on driving to make a living. I think they will pull up their slacks and save people’s lives.

For persons who might be giving their cars to someone else to drive, the insurance company should be notified and that person’s name should be put on the policy so that this person would face the penalty for reckless or dangerous driving.

If the insurance companies do this, I believe that drivers will realise that they are working the bus, or the car, to feed their families and they would not drive recklessly. It will ban the bad drivers from the roadways, as they cannot drive without a licence, and they will learn that they cannot drive unless they learn how to abide by speed limits, acceleration and even braking distance.

While many drivers can pay bribes to police officers, the insurance companies can make a difference in enabling our roadways to become safer for all. We should seriously consider this as we look towards reducing the number of road accidents.

Yours sincerely,
Vick Mahabeer

Driver