OP-ED: Is Guyana heading for a record number of road fatalities in 2023?

-72 dead in six months, just 15 fewer than for the entire 2022

-Traffic Chief pleads with Guyanese to change culture of speeding

By Michael Jordan

Is the nation heading for a record number of road deaths this year? That just might be the case, if there isn’t a drastic reduction in accidents soon.

Statistics from the Police Traffic Department and Big Smith News Watch reveal the alarming state of affairs.

Seventy two road users have already died between January and June 29. That’s just 15 fewer than the 87 that perished during the entire 2022.

Road deaths within the past six months have already surpassed the 59 that occurred between January and August 24, 2022, and the 61 between January and August 24, 2021.

The Big Smith News Watch statistics for June reveal that there have been 17 road deaths. Six of the dead were motorcyclists, three were the occupants of cars, three others were pedestrians, two were cyclists, two the occupants of trucks, and one was the rider of an electrical bike.  Breathalyzer tests indicated that three of the drivers had consumed excess alcohol.

Even more alarming, our June statistics show that fatalities sometimes occurred on successive days. (Jun 1 and 2— two accidents, three deaths; June 11, 12 and 13—three accidents, four deaths; and June 24, 25, 26, 27—four accidents, five deaths.   

According to the Police Traffic Department statistics, 55 of this year’s road deaths occurred between January to May 2023, and 48 for the same period last year.

Traffic Chief Dennis Stephen had noted last year that survivors of fatal accidents are often maimed for life and unable to take care of their families.

TRUCK DRIVERS PICKING UP ‘THE MINIBUS CULTURE’

Speeding, he says, is the main cause for road carnage. The culprits include individuals who are rushing to work. 

“We don’t respect time. Ninety-nine percent of accidents are a result to excess speed. You can’t have to be at work for seven and you getting ready at seven. Self-discipline and time management are needed.”

The Traffic Chief said that the majority of road victims are between “24 to 35 and below,” and that 16 of those who died between January and May were motorcyclists.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs donated helmets (which were distributed) but many of them prefer to put the helmets of the tanks, rather than on their heads.”

In the case of mini bus drivers, Traffic Chief Stephen said that many bus operators don’t own the vehicles they drive. They often drive recklessly in a race to pay themselves, and “the bus owner, conductor and touts.”

And truck drivers are now “picking up the minibus culture,” Stephen says.

“He (the driver) is paid $3,000 a trip, and has to make a certain number of trips to earn a satisfactory day’s pay.”

Admitting that the rise in fatalities has alarmed him, Traffic Chief Stephen says that the Force has been intensifying its campaigns to bring the numbers down.  

“We’re concerned, and that’s why we have stepped up on enforcement and road safety education.

“We’re working on a number of strategies. We have beat patrols in ‘black spots’ (potential danger zones on the roadways), we have radio and TV programmes daily with schools and the Ministry of Education, we have a road safety manual.

“We are working with (the band recognition company) Impressions, with Sheriff Security which operates ambulances; we’re working with Junior Sammy (which has a number of trucks).

“But road safety is a mindset. It’s about self-discipline. I travelled in Boa Vista and Suriname, and didn’t see a single traffic rank on the roads.

“Unless the public buys into it (road safety), what more we do?”