Dear Editor,
I put this on top so the authorities do not miss this. The people of Berbice really need this as too many accidents take place here. Traffic lights seem to be for only Georgetown. I have written about this on more than one occasion. There is a dire need for traffic lights to be installed on the branch road to Rosehall Estate, East Canje Berbice. It is a five-corner junction.
Today’s word is respect. Sadly there is the almost absolute absence of respect for our fellow citizens in Guyana. This lack of respect affects our lives in fundamental ways. In a way it commences with a lack of respect of our political leaders for even the people who voted them into power.
The reality is that these two mainstream parties have done nothing to reduce this deterioration. In fact they share major guilt in propping up this disrespect and this is another of many reasons why these two parties should be abandoned by right-thinking patriotic Guyanese.
I have a habit of stopping on the roadways of Guyana to allow other vehicles to gain access to the public road. If we do not give them the chance they would have to try to “bore” and this leads to accidents.
The reality is that if drivers stop to allow this, they do not lose much, just a couple of car lengths, for after allowing the cars to enter the public road or cross the road in a minute they regain their original place. When a minority of drivers stop to allow this some of those behind would honk their horns as if those polite road users were doing something very wrong.
Another area, a driver puts on his/her trafficator to change lanes maybe because he needs to exit but so very often drivers in the other lane would not even slow down to give the driver a chance. In some instances instead of slowing they would honk their horns in an angry manner and even curse the driver. Here again desperate attempts to change lanes because their exit point is approaching may result in accidents. These accidents could be avoided if some courtesies and respect for other drivers were in place. Drivers, please slow down and allow the change of lane to be effected effortlessly.
On many occasions cars would recklessly overtake me but some fifteen minutes later I end up next to them in another lane. I told this to one and I got a busing.
Pedestrians trying to cross the roadway especially the four lane are not given an opportunity by drivers. Here again in desperate attempts to cross, accidents may take place. Drivers, please facilitate pedestrians especially children.
We know minibus drivers do some nonsense on the road, but I usually give them a break on many occasions. My reasoning is that in some countries there are special lanes for vehicles with two or more passengers. Some have special bus lanes. Well, we do not have such lanes and Minibuses have 15 passengers on board while especially in the afternoon thousands await the buses to transport them home. So, if you can, give them a break.
So, respect and courtesy can contribute in a big way to the reduction of accidents. Please value your life and the lives of others. And parents, I was a trainee officer at the beginning of the Guyana National Service and we were drilled so much for the passing out parade. The day after the parade we were complimented by the Officer who indicated that even though he gave the wrong command we all to a man did the right thing. I did not even realise that a wrong command was given. Such is the drill that made us like robots.
Well. When I took my two young kids to cross the road each day, I just did not cross them without the drill. I would stop and say look to the right, look to the left, look to the right and then proceed to cross them. So, what happened that even when they were running to cross the road, automatically their head would go right, left, right because they were drilled into this habit. This could save the lives of your kids.
And please people, respect your environment, stop littering. Stop throwing garbage through the windows of vehicles.
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Bisessar
