The carnage continues on the roads and will be reflected in the consolidated traffic figures whenever they are released by the police. In addition to a series of pedestrian deaths, four people succumbed after a horrific crash on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway on Friday night.
The accident occurred at about 8:45 pm and involved motor lorry DFB 1788, driven by a 40-year-old resident of Paradise Village, West Coast Berbice, and motor car PZZ 8392, which was being driven by Egbert Blair, 55, of Half Mile, Wismar, Linden.
Blair, Tevin Thompson, 30, of One Mile, Wismar, Danneal Darrell, 28, of Block 22, Wismar, and Eon Jarvis were pronounced dead on arrival at the Linden Hospital Complex, according to the police report. Three others were injured.
For the six years of the Ali administration there were several occasions when government officials and the police vowed to clamp down on the major factors leading to these tragic accidents which would have included speeding and driving under the influence.
In Friday’s case speed was definitely involved and a car triggered the tragedy when it smashed into the back of a fuel truck after a failed attempt to overtake it. Speeding along this highway has been a longstanding problem. What progress has the police and the Ministry of Home Affairs made in trying to address this problem on the highway? Were there active police patrols that night? In addition to the speeding the highway was poorly lit. Why was this case?
The further the Ali administration evolves it becomes apparent that it is deeply immersed in big-ticket, high-profile projects without addressing the small things that really matter and are the difference between life and death.
It was announced in this year’s budget in January that 8,000 automatic speed control regulators would be installed on trucks as part of wider efforts to improve safety and enforce traffic regulations on Guyana’s roadways. The speed of the truck on Friday did not appear to have been a factor in this deadly crash but this campaign to instal speed controls is yet to begin.
The government has also rolled out a fully automated speed ticketing system as part of the Safe Road Intelligent System but this is only in force in some areas. The traffic police must review Friday’s accident to determine whether the measures the police force has contemplated could have helped to prevent this tragedy.
The number of pedestrians dying also speaks to the organization of roads and the fact that members of the public are left to cross highways and to navigate road parapets in the face of oncoming traffic.
Accountability is an important factor in ensuring compliance with traffic rules and ensuring that corruption in the force does not lead to infractions like the avoidance of tickets for speeding and the purchasing of licenses.
Accountability is also crucial as it sends a signal of zero tolerance. No accountability leads to the perpetuation of the problems that are occurring. A recent example of this lack of accountability came from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). Seven of its employees were separated all at once from the agency. There was no explanation at all as to why. It couldn’t be coincidental that all of these employees were separated at the same time for some innocuous reason. It has been a long-established trend in PPP/C government to quietly let go of persons rather than risk things blowing up in their faces. That philosophy creates a cavalier approach across many fronts such as adherence to traffic rules.
The Ministry of Home Affairs must work on the police force to limit this grievous loss of lives on the roads and Friday’s accident provides a basis for examining what other steps could be taken.
Discussion