There is a slight increase in fatal accidents this year, Traffic Chief Superintendent Dennis Stephens has said.
Thus far, 87 fatal accidents were recorded when compared to 79 last year. It was further revealed by Superintendent Stephens that pedestrians account for 60 per cent of the deaths for this year.
“We have observed that most of the pedestrians do not utilise or observe the rules on the road.”
And so, he is urging pedestrians to make use of curbs, pedestrian crossings, overhead crosswalks and obey traffic lights to reduce accidents.
“Do not cross the road in the path of a moving vehicle, that is an offence for the pedestrian likewise you have offence for drivers, you have offence for pedestrians,” Superintendent Stephen said.
He added that pedestrians are the most vulnerable category of road users and told drivers to be on the lookout for them always.
Based on statistics and analysis from the Guyana Police Force, the majority of the accidents occurred between Friday to Monday.
“That is when a lot of social activity occurs, in addition to that we also observe that between 18:00hrs to midnight most of the accidents occur and with the age range between 18 and 45, those are persons involved in the accidents.”
To reduce accidents on the roadways, the police have embarked on several initiatives.
“We are looking at having exercises targeting drunk drivers, we have had interaction with bars and have a dialogue with owners so that they would have some sort of responsibly to observe when a person is incapable of driving, and have systems in place, such as calling a taxi for that driver to make his way home safely,” Superintendent Stephens said.
The Police Force has also set aside a day to visit injured accident victims in hospitals and is now mandating that drivers involved in those accidents visit patients.
Meanwhile, the use of electric bikes continues to pose challenges for the Police Force. Currently, there is no law that governs the use of electric bikes but the National Road Safety Council, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Revenue Authority are working to regulate the use of these bikes.
Superintendent Stephens related that the Police Force recorded several accidents involving these bikes for this year and this is concerning since no accidents were recorded in the previous year.
“For last year we would have recorded zero accidents with these cycles and this year we would have recorded seven deaths and 12 serious injuries as it relates to these cycles, it is currently a challenge for us.
“We would have realised that its lack of knowledge using the road on their behalf and there are many issues as it relates to the cycles, there are no indicators and the vehicle is very silent so it poses a danger for the user overtaking and persons not hearing they are passing,” Superintendent Stephens related.
When these bikes are involved in accidents along the road, prosecuting the persons involved has proved challenging for the Police Force. Engagements with GRA and the Ministry of Legal Affairs are also ongoing on a possible ban on electric bikes in busy public spaces.
