Dear Editor,

Road fatalities in Guyana now exceed murders. From 2006 to September 2009 there were over 600 fatalities due to road accidents, while for the same period there were 508 murders. While some of these fatalities are due to the carelessness of pedestrians and their misuse of the roads, vehicle drivers contribute significantly to road deaths because they apparently know little or nothing about road safety rules, road signs, safe driving and vehicle performance under varying weather and road conditions.

Pedestrian road safety and the kerb drill for crossing are taught in schools so most pedestrians have some knowledge of road safety. However, driving skills and motor vehicle safety are taught only in adult driving classes and those who skip the classes, for one reason or the other, become a danger to themselves and to others. I have been told by taxi-drivers that the corrupt practice of paying a bribe to get a driving licence from the police traffic department still continues to this day. The bribe varies from $40,000 to $60,000.

Even after attending driving classes, writing the theoretical test and doing the practical driving test, some persons say that they have to pay a bribe to get their results. Others completely bypass the classes and tests and get their driving licence for a ‘fee’ without receipt within 2 – 3 days. These corrupt practices have serious and fatal consequences when untrained and ignorant drivers, licensed to maim and kill, go on the road and wreak havoc. One such driver, when asked the meaning of the road sign with the animal on it, seriously answered that it means ‘Beef sold here’!

Over-speeding, U-turns, tail-gating, overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic, overtaking across the double yellow lines, not wearing seat-belts, playing loud music, changing CD’s while driving, talking on the cellphone and driving under the influence are just a sample of the unsafe and illegal practices that many drivers engage in.

Take, for example, the dangerous U-turn. Many drivers seem to be ignorant of the three-point turn, so they execute the illegal U-turn. A few weeks ago under the bright midday sun, a car driver did a U-turn across the busy Rose Hall Town road in the face of an oncoming ambulance its siren blaring and light flashing. The ambulance braked and slammed into the side of the car; fortunately, there were no injuries, as everyone, including the errant driver, had on a seatbelt. Ironically, the ambulance was rushing to the scene of another accident on the Upper Corentyne that was the result of a truck executing a U-turn on a road turn!

Some nights ago, a rather long truck executed a long and laborious U-turn on the Rose Hall public road, when there was an intersection just metres away where the driver could have done the much safer and legal three-point turn. Then later, a fire engine from the New Amsterdam fire station carried out such a smooth, quick and accurate three-point turn at the same intersection that I shouted out to the fireman, “That’s an excellent three-point turn, sir!”

Over-speeding is also a common practice even on narrow roads that pass through densely populated areas. Every school-day morning as I walk along the J.C. Chandisingh Secondary School access road, I would observe vehicles zooming in and out and around the children as they make their way to school. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Well-designed speed bumps installed along this road will definitely keep vehicles’ speed within safe limits.

One of the systemic traffic problems in Guyana is that many of our major roadways pass through residential areas with houses on either side, with sometimes fatal intersection of vehicles with people. I see no quick and easy solution to this, only that drivers have be more careful (and taught to be more careful in mandatory and bribe-free driving classes) when passing through such areas at all times, day and night.

And speaking of night driving, the four-mile straight stretch of public road from the Albion Police Station to the Tain Market does not have a single functioning roadside light. This road cuts through one of the most densely populated areas of Berbice – Albion, Nigg, Belvedere, Hampshire, Rose Hall Town, Port Mourant and Tain. Many lives have been lost on this stretch of road. A few months ago at John’s Port Mourant, I was almost struck down by a tail-gating vehicle; I had to pinch myself to see that I was still alive. On the night of February 22 last, my father was not so fortunate. Years ago when I was a teenager, there used to be a necklace of lights stretching the full length of that road. Today the only lights are from the businesses and homes along the road, so unlike the hundreds of roadside lights that line the East Coast Demerara roadway.

In conclusion, I must mention the animals, mostly donkeys and cows, that irresponsible owners let loose, posing another danger on our roads. One taxi-driver told me: if you steal one of them the owner sends the police on you immediately; if your vehicle hits one, the owner is nowhere to be seen. One night I counted fourteen donkeys on the Rose Hall Public road.

Then the investigation and operational procedures of the police and the court system in the aftermath of a road accident leave much to desire, but that is another story by itself. These are some of the systemic hazards that we who live in Guyana have to endure.

Yours faithfully,
Michael XiuQuan-Balgobind-
Hackett