Dear Editor,
As a road user I am genuinely concerned over the obvious failures of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and especially the Traffic Division in the manner in which they deal with errant road users. We are experiencing a period of profoundly serious and mostly senseless road accidents several of which are fatal and others which incur severe injury. It is incomprehensible to see the police stand or pass by as some of the most unbelievable traffic offences are committed under their noses. Example, I am moving albeit slowly but constant, travelling east along the narrow 2 lane sea wall road with traffic going east and west when some drivers decide to pass and head into oncoming traffic forcing them to stop as the rogue drivers move unto the graveled parapet to await their opportunity to get back unto the road and force their way again into the moving lane. I watched as a police pick-up took all this in and did absolutely nothing which signals to those drivers that they did nothing wrong.
I use the East Coast highway every morning during the rush hour and see first-hand the way buses, taxies, trucks, cars and motorcycles overtake by cutting off the traffic on the right lane and then moving back to the inner lane all at the same speed and rarely without indicating. At the junction of the UG turn it is now common for drivers to create an extra turning lane or simply try to cut into the official turning lane creating havoc for the drivers who are continuing straight. All this is in the plain vision of the police controlling the traffic. I have seen in other places where the traffic police use a simple whistle to pull over errant drivers and make them park until he can leave his position. Now that may not work here as drivers do not respect the law any longer and will simply drive away. I would suggest that at these crucial points an extra police officer is deployed to deal with such drivers from time to time until the incidence is reduced or stopped altogether.
Then there are the police, who direct traffic in a most unprofessional way making it difficult for drivers to understand if they are calling or stopping them because of how they stand or use their hand signals. When stopping traffic, the police should be facing you with their open palms in the air and when call they should be standing sideways to the stopped traffic with their hands held high in the air beckoning or calling you. What we see are police facing yet calling you and in some cases their hands are so low in front of them that it is impossible to know if you should stop or go. These fundamental things do not appear to matter any longer and the road user is just supposed to understand and accept mediocrity.
Could it be that the disrespect for the road is as a result of poor training and standard maintenance by the police themselves? We all know or even experienced the corruption by those members of the Force who demand or at least expect you to comply with their bribery schemes. Is this how we expect the public to respect the police? Editor, we are in a bad way when those who are supposed to be guardians of the law are themselves the law breakers! And finally, Editor, what is a “Ticket Offence” as opposed to a “non-ticket offence”? The public is at a loss here when they are told you must follow the police to the station because it is a non-ticket offence after you went through an amber light or did not park correctly. You then stand less of a chance by a fraternity bent on treating you as they please and holding you for as long as they care to. The alternative then is “Which is gonna be” the Police way or the Court’s way, you choose.
Sincerely,
Bernard A. Ramsay