The relatives of those tragically killed in road accidents throughout the years are calling on the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to impose stricter road safety laws in an attempt to reduce the amount of deaths on the country’s roadways.
They believe that drivers, especially those who operate mini buses and taxis, will only adhere to the road safety regulations when there are stricter laws governing the roadways that will see motorists paying heftily for recklessness.
On December 02, last, four persons were killed when a mini bus crashed head-on into a car that was coming out of a gas station at Nismes, West Bank Demerara (WBD). CCTV footage showed the driver of the bus, Campton Bagot, was speeding and upon seeing the car, he could not stop in time.
To the surprise of many and especially those who lost their loved ones in that crash, Bagot was out on $120,000 bail on three traffic charges. He was charged with breach of insurance, failure to report the accident, and failure to render assistance to the injured persons. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“This is crazy. Because of his (Bagot) recklessness, we lost our loved ones. They won’t be here to spend Christmas with us but he can be home with his family. Where is the justice? The police have to do better and set better examples,” Angela Narine, a relative of one of the diseased in Nismes accident said.
For years, the GPF has been launching numerous road safety exercises to clamp down on drunk and speeding drivers but it seems as though this approach is not working. From January 01 to December 08, last, there were 116 road fatalities.
“Clearly, whatever the police are doing is not working. These drivers are reckless and all they care about is that $100 not the lives of their passengers. It seems as if safety is a thing of the past. Soon you will have to be scared to leave your home because every day there is some accident,” Kelvin Douglas, whose niece was injured in Nismes, said.
He added that with stricter rules and regulations governing the roads, drivers will be more careful. “Look at this, you can be driving on the road and these bus drivers does just make a sudden stop in front of you to pick up or drop off passengers and sometimes, if you decide to drive around him, he will continue driving just like that without indicating. I am so sick with the lawlessness that goes on with these bus drivers.”
Douglas, like many others, believes that drivers involved in fatalities should have their licence suspended permanently and persons caught driving under the influence should be made to pay hefty penalties.
Little fender/bender and in cases where persons are injured should attract jail time. “If someone hits your vehicle, they go to court and pay $20,000 fine or less and they move on, leaving you with a bill in excess of $500,000. This is nonsense and the police have to do something about this,” Douglas opined.
In yesterday’s accident, five persons, including an eight month pregnant woman, were killed when the mini bus they were travelling in suffered a left rear-end blow out and crashed into a truck in the opposite direction.
The bus driver, Seechand Chandilall, a father of two, was allegedly speeding with a spare wheel on the left side of his vehicle. It was that spare wheel that suffered the blow out and caused the deadly crash.
Those who lost their lives have been identified as 31-year-old pregnant nurse, Alana Vaughn; Keon Sealey, a medic; Maxwell Thom, 76 and Ewart Reynolds, 64, all of Mahaicony.
The injured persons have been identified as Angela Jacobs, 15; David Jacobs; Shurland Wills and Cecil Gordon. They were treated at the Mahaicony Hospital before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
