Dear Editor,
On Friday 25th September, between 4-5am, a minibus slammed into a parked rice trailer at Harlem Public Road causing injuries to the passengers and the driver. Over the years I’ve penned letters citing the dangers these parked trailers pose, especially when they are parked without reflectors or their reflectors are blocked by the tarpaulins covering the rice in the trailers. They are also parked on both sides of the roadway and caution should be exercised by motorists. However, with the unavailability of street lights, visibility is very poor especially if another vehicle is coming from the opposite direction with the high beam lights on.
Editor, many drivers agree that most lives are lost by accident around that area of the West Coast Demerara Public road, and some are of the view that it is associated with some sort of superstition. Talking to some, they have some incredible stories of near encounters with accidents there.
Over the years, however, every time rice is being cut, these trailers are left dangerously on both sides of the road, and many times accidents occur, and sometimes lives are lost. During the last crop, a motor cycle crashed into one of the trailers and twin brothers lost their lives; in addition a car crashed into one of the trailers.
There is a street which houses the rice factory, and that street could accommodate the trailers, but surprisingly the trailers always park on the public road instead of in the street. I would like to know why the relevant authorities are not insisting that the trailers park in the street, especially when so many accidents are occurring and causing lives to be lost. How many more accidents do there have to be before proper action is taken?
Yours faithfully,
Sahadeo Bates
