Drivers have complained bitterly about the damage to their vehicles from unmarked speedbumps and speedbumps that are too high in Georgetown. Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, drivers in the city lamented that unmarked speedbumps and speedbumps with faded paint are unrecognisable at night, resulting in damage to their vehicles. The consensus among the

drivers is that speedbumps are essential, since they play a significant role in reducing the speed of traffic, but because they are unmarked, they blend in with the road at night, and are difficult to identify. Therefore, drivers who are not familiar with the area are not conscious of the existence of the speedbumps until they come in contact with them.

“In the night, it’s a hazard, because until you reach the bump or sometime until you go over, then you realise there’s a bump there,” Gavin Morgan, a taxi driver explained. This results in drivers going over speed bumps unexpectedly which consequently damage the shock absorbers of their vehicles, along with other parts. “Another problem with the speedbumps is that although some are marked, they are too high, Princes Street has some, and when you go over them the bottom of your car grazes and it damages your car,” Keith Walcott, a taxi driver, explained. Kevin Sandiford, a driver at the route 45 minibus park added that “some of them need to be a little lower, not too much, but they need a standard measurement

system to implement for speedbumps.”

Sandiford also recommended that caution signs are placed next to speedbumps so that drivers will be notified. Drivers are distressed that this is causing them unnecessary expenses to fix their vehicles when they are damaged. When contacted by this publication, officials of the Traffic Safety Maintenance Department of the Works Services Group, Ministry of Public Works, explained that works are underway to paint the speedbumps. The officials at the department also explained that the marking of speedbumps is a continuous process, however, due to speedbumps fading over a period of time, it takes a while for the department to address the issue. “They are done in such a way that in some instances they bring you to a full stop, and in other instances you can just climb slowly,” a spokesperson, who prefers not to be named, from the department said. The spokesperson acknowledged that some speedbumps are indeed too high and the department is working to grade them down, and in some cases, widen them to allow for a smoother transition when going over the bumps.