The Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force is reporting a slight decrease in fatal accidents for the year thus far.
“So far for this year we are observing 59 fatal accidents as compared to 61 last year so there is a slight decrease but each accident, each life that we lose is sad,” Traffic Chief Superintendent Dennis Stephens said during a recent ‘Police and You’ programme.
Deaths and serious injuries due to vehicular accidents along the roadways continue to be a significant problem in Guyana and the Traffic Chief said accidents must be classified as a social issue.
He further related that the effects of serious accidents on families are vaguely known.
“Sometimes we look at fatal accidents, but what about serious accidents where a person might lose a limb, render him unfit to maintain his family, so it is a social issue, so those are things that need to be addressed by all Guyanese,” the Traffic Chief said.
He is calling on all road users to do their part to help reduce all accidents and understand that the Traffic Department cannot do it alone.
“I believe if everyone looks at road safety seriously, we may wake up with no accidents if each one of us observes the rules of the road.”
On Tuesday, a newlywed man Beesham Dhoray of Queens, New York was killed in an accident along the Bath Settlement Public Road, West Coast Berbice. The man’s wife is critically injured along with Dhoray’s cousin who was the driver of the car and another relative from the same vehicle.
According to information provided by the police, the accident resulted after the person driving the couple decided to overtake another car.
The driver of the car has been identified as Novashkar Sahadeo, 26, an overseas-based Guyanese of Susannah Village, Corentyne, Berbice.
The accident also involved a hire car HC 7356, driven by 57-year-old William Darenne of Bath Settlement.
