The integration of technology into local traffic management is promised to further decrease road fatalities and improve the overall safety of road users, says Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali.
The president was at the time responding to a question regarding road fatalities amid the government’s massive infrastructure push during a press conference on Tuesday at State House.
Recognising that “one death is too many”, the Head of State emphasised that Guyana has a small population and it cannot continue to lose its human assets.
He noted that with the planned technological initiatives, the roads will become safer. In this regard, the Head of State pointed out that cameras have captured more than 60,000 instances where people were speeding. This system, he said, is in the testing phase and will come online soon.
“Very soon, you are going to see the electronic speed meters out on the road that is going to tell you to slow down your speeding. So, we have these proactive measures to help drivers also. We have the electronic system that will improve transparency, improve accountability, and create a more speedy way through which persons will be held accountable for their actions,” he noted.
The president also spoke about the decrease in fatal accidents, giving credit to the Guyana Police Force for its push.
“I want to give credit to the Guyana Police Force and the Traffic Chief and his ranks for some of the accomplishments that we made in 2024 in relation to road safety,” he noted.
The President was keen to point out some of these commendable achievements such as a 20 percent decrease in fatal accidents. Expounding further he said, “In deaths, we saw a decrease of 24% from last year. Serious accidents, a decrease by 2%. Minor accidents, a decrease by 3%.”
The President added, “So if you look at what we have, and that is from the safety perspective, that is from fatalities and all of that, we have consistent decreases from last year. This means that the systems we started to put in place and the interventions we are making are bearing fruits.”
