Driving under the influence (DUI) is one of the contributing factors to the increase in accidents in Pomeroon-Supenaam. This was disclosed by the Region Two commander Superintendent Khemraj Shivbaran during a press conference on Friday.
He said that the division has recorded an increase of fatal accidents but there has been a decrease of serious crimes in the region.
The decrease included gun-related robberies and murders in the division. The commander provided statistics covering January,1 to October 9, 2022 and the same period in 2023.
Shivbaran said that the division in total had 50 cases of serious crimes in 2021 and in 2022 it dropped to 25. These serious crimes are robbery, robbery under arms (firearms used), murders, robbery under arms (other instruments), robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from person, rape, burglary and break and enter and larceny and kidnapping.
Shivbaran said that there has been a significant increase in all categories of accidents in the region. Seven lives were lost in 2023 while two persons died in 2022 in the period under review.
More persons were put before the courts in 2023 for DUI as compared to the previous year. For 2022 the division had 10 cases while in 2023 37 cases were recorded with 35 persons charged with the offence. There has also been an increase in ticketing in the region for 2023 as compared to the previous year for traffic offences.
The commander said that statistics have revealed that accidents are happening primarily on weekends and as such the traffic officers have increased their visibility on the roadways.
