Dear Editor,
This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Driving attitudes in Guyana need a drastic change. The driver’s licences of public transport operators need to be cancelled and reissued after the drivers are subjected to a through reorientation course where defensive driving among other road courtesies, for instance, safe driving practices and skills are learned and appreciated.
The newspaper account of the circumstances which led to the horrendous accident in Linden, confirms the driver’s total disregard for due care, the lives of his passengers and the value of the bus even if he is the owner. This wanton disregard or apparent non-existent concern for basic courtesies and the value of lives are indicative of Guyana’s de-graded moral values, which cannot be fixed by simply introducing speed bumps and the honking of horns, al-though they will surely help in many areas.
The degradation of driving morals and attitude, which seem to have begun a steep downward trend in the mid 70s, is a mirror of attitudes in other sections of our society, perpetuated by the kind of governance we have had since then. When incompetence is seen to be rewarded with a simple reshuffle with no attempt to get the best person for the job, white collar crimes are rewarded with a mere slap on the wrist, corruption allowed to slide because of party affiliation and law breaking/enforcement can be neutralized by bribes, there should be no wonder about the moral fabric of this nation.
The Guyanese psyche is stressed and battered and may be in a state of irrevocable damage. Make no mistake, the carnage on the streets is a manifestation of the lack of proper law and order enforcement, the resilience of a police force destroyed by direct attacks which saw the loss of many lives, the lack of real incentives for those who wish to continue the fight, a rising drug related culture which glorifies its ill begotten gains, a mad rush by the average person to simulate these gains, the inability to be at the receiving end of justice and fair play, unimaginative leadership, questionable political ideology, all combining to create a dog eat dog community unable and unwilling to recognize decency and what is right.
What can we do to enact change? Those of us who look forward to living the latter part of our lives in the good old beautiful Guyana are horrified. Will we ever be able to fulfil our dreams? Will we ever be able to take our grand children and have them ride in public transport controlled by operators who would respect, appreciate and guard their lives? Would we ever be able to walk the streets without having our brains blown out for a five-dollar wristwatch? Something has to be done.
Reversing Guyana’s problem is an almost superhuman task requiring a one hundred and eighty degree ideological shift of the ruling party or a new party willing to make that shift. While we wait I would make a suggestion about something much simpler – stopping the carnage on the roads.
As I have mentioned at the beginning of this letter, the policy should be to take the attack to that one thing which enables operators to work or not work – the drivers license. If the ability to work legally is under threat operators will think thrice before going over the speed limit or negotiating that risky bit of overtaking. To make it work, four bodies need to work in concert, the Ministry of Transport, the Traffic Department of the Police force, the judicial system and the motor insurance companies.
The ministry of transport should take the issuing of hire car and mini bus licenses out of the hands of the Traffic Department and set up a special unit within the ministry to re-issue and monitor these drivers and licenses. Efforts should be made to get the most trustworthy persons for the job. The persons responsible for the every day running of this unit should be reshuffled to avoid familiarity with the drivers and stiff disciplinary action taken if workers in the unit break laws and regulations. Make the present license void at the end of say six months, which should give the unit time to reevaluate applicants driving worthiness to carry passengers.
The function of the unit is to reassess applicants driving ability, inculcate good driving habits, teach the laws of the road like who has the right of way and when to give the right of way, passenger courtesies, tourist friendliness, how to behave in an accident, etc. Applicants should pass a written exam on these lectures.
Once an applicant passes a new operator’s license is issued for an initial period of six months with the time lengthening to one year and so on, if there are no violations. This license should have two sections for endorsements – one for the police (rank to be decided) if a ticket is issued and the other for a magistrate if the operator goes to court. The endorsement should affect the renewal of license and the price of vehicular insurance. The unit should keep computerized records of all applicants and the traffic police should have black berries to access the information when confronting a driver in the streets. The traffic police also need to go through special training, exercises in courtesy and professionalism, to make this work.
It is easy to understand where I am going with this. A magistrate should handle the revoking of these licenses with recommendation from the police or in a situation where the driver ends up in a court of law.
Motor insurance companies also have a very important role to play. Persons should be penalized or rewarded for good or bad driving records – the endorsements on the license will come into play here.
Speed limits seem to be stuck in the past and have not been upgraded since the sixties, indicative of our development. We still have two speed limits – 60mph for the Linden/Georgetown highway and 40mph for all other roads judging from the queries of a recent letter writer. These speed limits are unrealistic. The ministry of transport has got to look at every one-mile stretch of road and decide on speed limits for those areas. No-overtaking zones need to be clearly marked and quiet zones around the hospitals and courts reinforced.
These are suggestions for a very small step on the way forward. Is there a will to stop the carnage? Let’s wait and see. Meanwhile I would like to extend sincere condolences to the family and friends of all those who lost loved ones and to those who were seriously injured.
Yours faithfully,
F. Skinner
