Next year marks the halfway point of the United Nations (UN) designated Decade of Action for Road Safety, so appointed because of the unacceptably high number of deaths as a result of road accidents with the global figure for 2010 being given as 1.24 million. The UN also noted then that “road traffic injuries are a major public health and development problem that has a broad range of social and economic consequences, which if unaddressed may affect the sustainable development of countries and hinder progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.”
Some of these social and economic consequences are obvious. The victim of an accident with injuries so severe that they render him/her unable to work, translates to lost man hours at his/her job; a strain on the family if the person was the sole breadwinner or a major contributor to meeting expenses; added expenses related to care in and out of hospital and medical expenses among others. The situation is basically the same even if the victim is a child because it means the parent/s work hours would be reduced as a result of the extra burden of care.
Somehow, though very relevant, these are not the issues that preoccupy those who constantly break traffic laws in Guyana. On any given day during the rush hour periods (07:30 – 08:30 and 15:00 – 16:30 hrs) the infractions by drivers are myriad. They run red lights, overtake illegally, fail to stop at major roads, talk on the phone while driving, text while driving, fail to observe speed limits and illegally cut other drivers off. But wait, there’s more. During the rest of the day, but more likely at night, there are many others driving drunk, especially on the weekend. Those are just the major laws that are continually flouted; there are several more minor ones that some drivers simply refuse to pay attention to.
The categories of drivers most likely to be found guilty of committing the infractions listed above are those providing public transportation services – minibus and taxi drivers – and increasingly nowadays drivers aged 18 to 25.
These drivers coupled with poorly constructed roads some of which are extremely narrow, uneven and potholed, have contributed to Guyana being among the 25 countries in the world with the most car crash deaths per year. Guyana is placed at number 23 with 27 deaths per 100,000 population, while the global average is 18 per 100,000, according to statistics published in February this year. By September that figure had been adjusted upward to 29/100,000, which should surprise no one, given the carnage wrought on our roads since.
While the practice has been to blame the police, anyone who is on the road during peak periods would notice that traffic officers are out there trying to instil order. Their presence is obvious even before they can be seen as the usual suspects would usually toe the line. However, they return to their madcap ways the minute the ‘white sleeves’ are out of sight, well aware that it’s not possible for the police to be everywhere at once. The Ministry of Home Affairs had recently announced plans to train and use traffic wardens, it is not known how far these plans have advanced, but additional bodies on the road with the capacity to cite drivers and write tickets would be welcome.
One of the main reasons Guyana’s statistics are not higher is because other drivers have been forced to be extremely defensive and always on the lookout for the road fiends. As a result, there is no such thing as a leisurely drive anymore; navigating the roadways is always a nerve-wracking experience.
That in a nutshell is the extent of the problem. The solution lies in addressing road safety in a holistic manner. The seemingly ad hoc designation of certain streets as one ways, without due notice being given to the public, the start and stop traffic offence campaigns and the discrimination in the treatment of those who break traffic laws will not cut it. The Guyana Police Force should only be part of a much wider body that looks into the management of the roadways which would include researching the number of vehicles now plying the roads, addressing parking, updating legislation, ensuring that laws currently in place are enforced among other things. Reducing traffic accidents, particularly those that result in injury and/or death, is crucial to a country’s development. Unless this is reflected in the importance we attach to fighting this scourge we will never manage to deal with it effectively.