In December 2019, when I was serving as the British High Commissioner to Guyana, I was advertising for a new official driver. This led Paul Harris from the Stabroek News, to produce a cartoon of me despairing about carnage on the roads. It was typically Paul – cutting through the issue and getting to the point. In this case dangerous driving and deaths on the roads. It was hard to argue with what he drew.
Fast forward five years and things are, if anything, worse. Anyone who drives on Guyana’s roads (as I do frequently) sees the daily disregard for basic road rules (or civility even) displayed by Guyanese drivers of all ages (and foreign nationals as well). Drivers routinely cut others up, barge in at junctions, fail to obey roundabout rules, create their own lanes, cuss each other out for the simplest of transgressions, and are basically abusive and rude to each other. And let’s not get started on the irresponsible behaviour of many truck drivers.
And the Guyana Police Force seems incapable of doing anything about it and when it does try to do something it fails to get all the support it needs to punish those who break the law – often because the transgressors seem to have some ‘connections’.
Whilst there has always been a small segment of drivers (I’m looking at Pitbull bus drivers here) who seemed to think they were above the law, everyone now seems to think they are. Despite the building of new infrastructure, getting anywhere (especially at rush hour) seems to take ever increasing amounts of time. This is a result of the huge number of vehicles now on the road – I’m told registrations are close to 10,000 vehicles every six months. This adds to drivers’ impatience and frustration – and ultimately to their bad behaviour.
Fatal accidents and deaths look on track in 2024 to roughly mirror those in 2023. So that will be about 136 fatal accidents and 158 deaths.
These are shocking figures. They equate to about 17 fatal accidents per 100,000 people and 19 deaths per 100,000 people. The equivalent figure for fatalities in the UK in 2023 was 2.4 per 100,000 people (and that doesn’t take into account the significantly greater number of miles in total driven by UK drivers compared to Guyanese drivers).
And when did Guyanese drivers become so uncivil? Yes there have always been frustrations but in recent months I have seen a level of uncivility and frustration on the road which far outweighs anything I have seen before. This anger simply makes the situation worse. An angry driver is a dangerous driver.
Clearly something needs to be done and done quickly. There has been much talk about the need to address these figures and both the Police and other organisations launch frequent ‘drives’ to improve road safety. But whilst there might be an initial improvement, the numbers really don’t seem to get much better in the longer term.
I fear (and I know this will be unpopular) the only way to make improvements will be by increasing the size and number of punitive fines and punishments being handed out to drivers breaking the law. Fines should increase in dollar value (and their collection more actively pursued – time to end the plague of delinquent payers), drivers should get points for transgressions (and lose their licences if they accrue too many), and vehicles should be seized in the most serious cases (such as drink driving or driving under the influence of drugs).
The Police must diligently and fairly ensure the rules are enforced and properly recorded. Everything needs to be above board.
Only, I fear, through such punitive actions will behaviour change. In the UK changes in behaviours around drink driving and the need to wear a seatbelt initially took hold because of the punishments that were doled out if you were found to have broken the law. Now (especially when it comes to drink driving) these are socially unacceptable actions and most drivers self-police their actions – for the benefit of all. How does that compare to Guyana?
Without trying to sound facetious anyone who thinks they can drive safe under the influence would do well to watch the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street where Leonardo DiCaprio drives his sportscar home after a binge session – especially how he thinks he drives as opposed to how he actually does …
Reducing the fatality rate and reducing the accident rate should be something everyone in Guyana wants to see. One needs only look at the past work of Mothers in Black in Guyana, founded by Denise Dias, to see the impact of road accidents on families and those who survive.
I know, many in government, many citizens, and many organisations are shocked at the carnage on Guyanese roads and want to see improvements. The reasons for doing so are numerous – human impact and society impact but also economic and business. Put bluntly a dead driver or passenger cannot provide for their family or work for a company.
But to achieve this, fundamental behaviours by all drivers in Guyana need to change. This isn’t something for ‘someone else because I know I am a good driver’. Everyone can contribute to this. Allow a little extra time for your journey, be civil to other drivers, obey the laws. It isn’t hard to do …
About the author
Greg Quinn OBE is a former British Diplomat who has served in Estonia, Ghana, Belarus, Iraq, Washington DC, Kazakhstan, Guyana, Suriname, The Bahamas, Canada, and Antigua and Barbuda in addition to stints in London. He now runs his own government relations, business development and crisis management consultancy: Aodhan Consultancy Ltd (www.aodhaninc.co.uk).
