Guyana Electrical Consultants & Associates

Traffic Chief, Roland Alleyne (right) and Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira, before the launch to re-establish the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) yesterday. (Photo by Ken Moore)

A 21-member interim executive committee was constituted yesterday at a ceremony at the Umana Yana amidst concern about traffic management. It was noted that someone walking on the road was just as likely to be killed as someone using a motor vehicle.

The issue of amplified music was addressed as a road safety hazard, and a call was made for a change in the law with regard to driving under the influence of alcohol.

The NRSC Chairperson is Michael Browne, who has been president for the last 21 years of the Guyana Road Safety Association. Its Vice-Chairperson is Denise Dias, of Women in Black and the Alicia Foundation. Traffic Chief Roland Alleyne is also a member of the committee.

Notably there is no representative of the Mini-Bus Association on the council. However, Browne told Stabroek News that at the meeting scheduled after the launch yesterday that would be addressed. Among the items on the meeting’s agenda were reviewing the traffic laws and initiatives to improve traffic management.

The launch started over 45 minutes late; the public address system arrived at 10.25 am for a scheduled 10 am start and the Guyana Police Force Band slated to play the National Anthem and musical interludes arrived after the PA system. Dias, who was the MC, apologised for the late start, adding that the original PA system was not working.Invitees at the launch included Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Bruno Picard and members of the Scottish Police Force and Centrix, a UK firm. The UK firm and the Scottish police are here to help with the institutional strengthening of the Guyana Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Among the things the NRSC needed to look into immediately, Alleyne said, was the situation of drivers keeping to the right-hand side of highways, like the East Coast and the East Bank, which caused other road users to be swerving in and out of traffic.

There was also the “bright light phenomenon”, Alleyne said. He noted too that most of the road accidents across Guyana occurred at weekend. “You know when there are more celebrations like weddings.”

Persons between the 25 to 33 years age group were involved in 56% of the accidents in 2004, and 65% in 2005, Alleyne said. “These are current issues and have been going on from year to year.”

He said “excessive speeding” was the main reason for fatal accidents last year and for this year so far.

So far this year 60 persons have died in road accidents including five children. For the same period last year 78 persons had died including 12 children.

‘Rumble steps’

A member of the Scottish police told Stabroek News that in Scotland where there were long stretches of road inviting speed, among the things done was to put what he called ‘rumble steps.’ These are rough patches in the road, which caused the car to vibrate as it went over “and the faster you go the more the car shakes.”

In analysing accident trends, Alleyne pointed out that in the ‘A’ Division of the police force, the stretch of road between Garden of Eden and Timehri, on the East Bank highway was where most of the accidents have been occurring.

Most of the accidents on the East Coast Demerara highway in 2004 occurred between Mahaica and Cove and John. In 2005, the area between Beterverwagting and Plaisance was the most dangerous stretch to use.

‘Bannas, you better

don’t drive’

On the West Coast Demerara, 51% of the fatal accidents last year, Alleyne said, happened between Den Amstel and Parika. In Berbice, the area between the Albion Bridge and Rosignol was most dangerous. There were two fatal accidents on the Essequibo Coast in 2005.

Minister of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira, said in the feature address that there had been a lot of meetings among stakeholders, including the minibus association leading up to the re-establishment of the NRSC, which she said had become obsolete in 1990. Prior to its disbandment, she said, the body had played a role in advising the minister of home affairs.

She said areas like funding and structure for the government to work along with the NRSC were still to be worked out. Nevertheless, “this is one step further.”

In suggesting measures to include everyone in road safety, Teixeira spoke of manufacturers possibly putting a slogan on their products such as “drive safely”, or “don’t drink and drive.”

She said there were simple things people could do like telling a friend who is obviously inebriated, “bannas you better don’t drive” and encouraging that person to use a taxi instead.

She spoke of educating children, “our future drivers” on road use. And here Teixeira noted that it was “approximately equal” for a pedestrian to be killed on the roadways as a driver or rider.

She noted how fatal accidents could “rip families apart” and sometimes leave permanent scars. Not to mention, those permanently injured, and the billions of dollars spent on health care.

She said after being formally positioned as Minister of Home Affairs on June 1, she started to contemplate measures to deal with the traffic situation where “more and more” she heard of cases where persons who were obviously wrong in an accident were being apologised to by the right party because of fear and “the bullyism” of the culpable person.

Battle lost

There has been dialogue about traffic matters at the level of the National Commission of Law and Order also, Teixeira noted. And coming out of all these meetings, persons advocated changes including banning amplified music in minibuses, which has been raised with the minibus association.

But Teixeira said apparently “the battle was lost” in terms of approaching the issue of amplified music as a nuisance. She said the new approach would be to address it as a road safety hazard where the excessively loud music caused distraction and could impede drivers’ concentration and hearing. “This is not about turning up a radio. It is about the boom-boom thing.”

The Attorney General is also being approached to change legislation with regard to driving under the influence (DUI), Teixeira said.

The Scottish policeman told Stabroek News that persons found guilty of DUI in Scotland were given high negative publicity “as it is something socially unapproved” and in other cases severely penalised including taking away their licenses and insurance companies not willing to offer them insurance.

From time to time the police would launch highly publicised campaigns. “We would go on TV and say okay, tonight we have a campaign,” he said. “There would be police all over. At every corner,” and certain drivers would be targeted, for example the age group mentioned by Alleyne as being most involved in accidents.

He said the Scottish police used the four Es approach: Engineering, Encouragement (from the perspective of letting others see the consequences of bad road safety habits), Education and Enforcement.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is being consulted too, Teixeira said, with changing the present driver’s licence for a plastic one. She spoke of setting up a database also. The present license, Teixeira noted, was easily damaged and more readily tampered with.

She spoke of the need to set up a traffic court “outside the purview of the police” and which needed to meet regularly. There was also the issue of provisional licences, Teixeira said, which were issued without any tests.