Furthermore, it was not at all clear from the Minister’s words that the overall accident rate had declined; merely that the fatal accident rate had done so. He did distinguish children in the group, indicating that up to December 10, 2008, seven of them had lost their lives as opposed to 30 the previous year; however, again we do not know how many children were involved in accidents requiring hospital treatment, for example, but who survived; or the locations, nature and circumstances of the accidents in the two years of comparison.
Without the full data to put Mr Rohee’s single statistic into context, a reduction in the fatality rate theoretically might say more about the greater availability of ambulances and the improved standard of emergency treatment than it does about better drivers and greater police vigilance. In addition, there may be such factors as the installation of traffic lights (in relation to Georgetown), and improved road quality in some instances to take into account. In the past, for example, the police have identified the two ‘killer’ roads of the country (not their description), as being the East Coast and East Bank highways. It would be a matter of interest to know exactly where on the East Bank most of the accidents occurred in earlier years, so it could be established whether the dual carriageway and proper street-lighting for the segment leading to the Providence stadium had had a beneficial effect on the accident rate and/or the fatal accident rate.
The Berbice Traffic Chief, Mr Owen Trotz, also reported at the end of last year that road fatalities for 2008 in his division were down by more than 50%, but like Mr Rohee, he gave no breakdown of the figures. Without any reference to what the overall accident rate was, or how many people were injured in accidents, it is impossible again for the public to come to any informed conclusions about whether the larger situation is improving or not. Mr Trotz at least had no doubt about what the reason was for the decline in fatalities in his area: he attributed it primarily to the deployment of traffic ranks and the use of radar guns. Perhaps he was right or partly right; it is just that he too didn’t provide the figures which would help make his case.
As it is, the public is not convinced that our roads are any safer than they used to be, and the horrendous minibus crash which occurred last Saturday has provided them at least with anecdotal evidence appearing to lend some credence to that impression. It was confirmed (if only in relation to fatalities for the year 2008) in another section of the media by Traffic Chief Neil Semple, who was reported as saying that the crash had taken the number of those killed on the roads to 104 for this year, as compared to 101 for the same period last year.
Furthermore, while the police said later that the driver of the truck which was said to have stopped suddenly last Saturday was inebriated, the fact that the minibus had collapsed like a concertina on impact with it suggested that the driver may not just have been driving too close, but may also have been speeding. As it is, the travelling public is in little doubt that most of the long-haul minibus drivers routinely speed, particularly along the East Coast.
The reasons for this are well known, and reside partly in the minibus culture, and partly in the way the drivers and conductors are paid (they have to meet a quota for the owner, and they can keep takings over and above that). There is a premium, therefore, on picking up as many passengers as possible in as short a time-frame as possible. It is also widely believed (again on the basis of anecdotal evidence) that some drivers have simply bought their licences, and have never taken a driving test or been exposed to formal police instruction on the highway code. Whether in fact minibuses kill or injure more people than other vehicles is simply not something which the authorities have divulged in the last two years; what can be said is that when they are involved in a major crash, for obvious reasons more persons are killed than in the case of any other type of vehicle.
As noted above, various factors impact on road safety, but there is little doubt that the single most important in a general sense is enforcement of the traffic laws. No matter what the minibus culture, for example, it would change if enough drivers were charged for offences. The government has put new legislation on the books recently in relation to driving under the influence, loud music in vehicles, etc, but if the laws are not implemented they will be well-nigh useless. Citizens are accustomed to road safety campaigns – there is one on for this month – but while these may have their place for educational purposes, they are no substitute for consistent and impartial enforcement of the traffic code. It is true that the GPF is under strength (is that why the traffic police are rarely seen on the road after 7 pm?), but what has undermined the efficacy of the Traffic Department more than anything else is the culture of the ‘raise.’ Unless what is perceived as the endemic corruption in the police force in general and the traffic section in particular is addressed in a systematic way, we will reach a plateau in terms of improvement on the road accident front, and will be stymied in making further significant progress.
In the meantime, come the end-of-year report for 2009, would either the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner of Police or the Traffic Chief do citizens the courtesy of giving a full breakdown of the accident statistics, along with the figures for the increase in the number of vehicles on the road. This should not be secret information – it never used to be – and it is not about trying to make the police look either good or bad. Everyone in this country has a vested interest in road safety; the figures will give us a more accurate basis on which to come to conclusions about the possible reasons for reductions or increases in the accident rate, as the case may be, and where we should concentrate our efforts.
