The police are reminding citizens that under the laws they are required to wear a safety helmet when operating or being towed on a motorcycle with an engine capacity of 50 cc and over.
The police caution comes following the deaths of two motorcyclists on Sunday; neither wore helmets. Early Sunday morning 49-year-old Gerald Lindore of Sandy Babb Street, along with a pillion rider, was riding along Carmichael Street when he swerved to avoid hitting the dogs and lost control of his bike. Police said that both Lindore and the pillion rider fell, sustaining injuries in the process.
They were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where Lindore succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention while the pillion rider was treated and sent away. Yesterday, the police noted that Lindore was not wearing a safety helmet at the time of the accident. However, a post-mortem examination on his body yesterday, revealed that he died of a ruptured spleen.
Meantime, the police also noted that newspaper vendor, Troy Assanah of La Grange, West Bank Demerara (WBD), who died on Sunday afternoon following an accident on his motorcycle was not wearing a helmet at the time. The accident had occurred at around 12.30 pm Sunday on the main road at Canal Number Two, WBD.
Police said that investigations revealed that Assanah was operating his motor cycle along the roadway when he lost control and struck the rear wheel of a pedal cyclist. Both persons fell on the roadway as a result of the impact and received injuries. Assanah was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital but had to be transferred to the GPH, where he died while receiving treatment.
His father, Percy, told Stabroek News yesterday that a post-mortem examination is expected to be conducted tomorrow and the funeral would most likely be on Saturday. He recalled that he last saw his son when he went to collect the newspapers from him on Sunday morning. Assanah was a familiar sight on the western side of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, where he sold his newspapers.
On a daily basis, he could be seen cajoling motorists to purchase from him and during peak periods would sometimes stand in the middle of the road, as traffic slowed to sell his newspapers. He was known to many travellers on the West Demerara as ‘Rasta Man’ and had been selling at the location for a number of years.
Assanah, who is the father of four children ranging from four to nine years, had taken over from his mother, who had also sold newspapers at the location.
