With new rules in place regarding how this country’s roads ought to be used, we ventured into several areas where changes were supposed to have been made only to feel very let down.
First let us say that we believe the demarcation of bus stops is a brilliant idea and one that we hope will be used throughout this land, wherever minibus routes are. However, we have noticed that the stupidity of some minibus drivers still abounds; like the two ignoramuses who raced each other to a bus stop on upper Regent Street last week because they saw four potential passengers standing there. The result was the potential passengers panicking and fleeing onto the pavement when they saw the two buses bearing down on them. Happily, they were so upset at the drivers that they chose not to travel with either bus. One minibus conductor abused the people when they refused to leave the relative safety of the pavement to join his bus after it had stopped. He should have had his ears boxed. Where are the police when you need them? And isn’t it amazing that bus stops have to be policed? Only in Guyana!
However, the placing of bus stops seems to have curbed the tendency of commuters to stand at the street corners, blocking traffic, blocking the view of some drivers and having minibuses “roll up” there to pick them up or let them off. That is why we say put the bus stops on all streets and on all routes.
Then there is the issue of drinking and driving. We have seen the advertisements. We are not impressed. We don’t think they really appeal to sensitivities of drivers. Okay, let’s forget the two we mentioned above. There are a lot of people who would think twice about drinking and driving if they were seeing more advertisements that showed what the likely results were. And we’re talking here about fatalities. So where are the gripping visuals? Where are the statistics? And, for that matter, where, just where are the breathalyzers?
In the interim, however, we feel police officers can curb drunk driving by visiting the various watering holes at the weekend; not as consumers, please, but in work mode. At these places – and we all know where they are – men, and in some cases women, can be seen getting behind the wheels of their vehicles when their breaths so reek of alcohol anyone who goes too close can become intoxicated. Surely, if an officer of the law saw a person staggering from having ingested too many beers, s/he would be within his/her rights to demand that person’s vehicle keys to prevent him/her from driving, breathalyzer or no breathalyzer? The vehicle can then be towed to the nearest police station from where the owner can uplift it when sober. But then again, do traffic cops work at night?
We ask this question because we have seen dozens of traffic policemen along the East Bank and Linden-Soesdyke highways during the day. However, they are seldom seen at night. Except of course when there is a huge event outside Georgetown or on a holiday when hundreds of bored Guyanese visit the creeks. Newsflash to police: Many a Sunday, the creeks are all filled to overflowing; there is usually as much alcohol flowing as the water in the creeks; and then these people drive home. Do we really have to point out the link here? We hope not.
Incidentally, and this is a secret we want to share with the Police Traffic Department, so if you are not a traffic officer, stop reading at this point. If you are a Sunday/holiday-creek-scene frequenter you are likely to be upset, so stop reading here! We would like the traffic police to know that almost all, if not all of the drivers traversing the East Bank and Linden-Soesdyke highways know your hidey-holes. For heaven’s sake, don’t park around the same turn and in the same side street every day; they slow down on approach to your hideout and speed up after they would have passed you. On another point, you’re wasting people’s time, including ours, stopping them for driving at 67 or even 70 kmph in a 65 kmph zone and then telling them to drive on like you’re doing them a favour. You need to be looking for the guys who are doing 90, 100, 120 kmph and above. They are out there, go get them. And finally, we will be sending our bill – never mind our advice is unsolicited – to the Traffic Chief in due course.
(thescene@stabroeknews.com)
