IN a sobering revelation following the death of a motorcyclist in a collision with a truck on Mandela Avenue, Georgetown on Wednesday, President Dr Irfaan Ali has sounded an urgent call for safer practices on Guyana’s roadways. According to the President, motorcyclists account for a staggering 43 per cent of all road fatalities recorded so far this year.

Even more alarming, the Head of State revealed that 72 per cent of the motorcyclists who died were not wearing helmets at the time of their accidents.
“I am appealing to all road users, especially motorcyclists, to exercise extreme caution on our roadways,” Dr Ali urged in a Facebook post.

The President’s statement comes hours after reports emerged of the fatal Mandela Avenue accident, which added to an already growing toll of road deaths.
Just hours before the Mandela Avenue fatality, police reported that two motorcyclists were injured in separate accidents in Georgetown on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In both cases, the riders were not wearing helmets at the time of the collisions.

Authorities have repeatedly warned of the consequences of reckless driving, speeding, and failure to wear protective gear, particularly among motorcyclists.
Despite ongoing efforts by law enforcement and road safety agencies to crack down on traffic violations and raise public awareness, statistics continue to reflect a troubling trend of preventable traffic accidents — with speeding remaining one of the leading causes.

Dr Ali’s appeal is the latest in a series of high-level interventions aimed at curbing the deadly wave of road accidents plaguing the country. The government has also invested in road safety campaigns and stricter enforcement measures in high-risk zones.

Within the first 12 hours of the Safe Road Intelligent Systems (SRIS) rollout last week, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) reported 259 speeding violations.
The SRIS employ advanced speed cameras and radar speed signs, all linked to a cloud-based infrastructure, to detect and issue tickets for speeding violations. Its state-of-the-art technology enables detection within a range of approximately 500 to 600 feet.

The SRIS use Guyana National Bureau of Standard (GNBS)-approved and certified cameras to automatically detect traffic violations, including speeding, obscured license plates, and unsafe modifications such as excessively tinted windshields.
As Guyana works in accordance with the United Nations (UN) Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030 with an aim to cut traffic deaths and injuries by 50 per cent by 2030, the government has called on everyone to join the efforts to promote road safety.