Bar owners warned again not to sell drunk drivers

Drunk driving is one of the main contributing causes of road deaths along the East Bank corridor and to address this, the Police have embarked on a campaign to ensure this does not continue.

In so doing, bar owners are being advised not to sell alcohol to intoxicated drivers.

“We are also doing education campaigns at the various bars. Because the legislation is there now, we are enlightening the bar owners not to sell alcohol to persons who are intoxicated, persons who may be driving on the roadway,” Superintendent Krishna Ramana said on Friday.

“We want to urge you if you are going to imbibe excessively, use a taxi, have a designated driver,” he said.

Ramana made the call when he appeared on the Guyana Police Force ‘Police and You’ radio programme on Friday.

In November 2022, the government amended the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act to impose hefty fines on bar owners who serve alcohol to drunk people.

Under the Act, licensed bar owners are mandated to impose obligations on drivers at their establishments and are required to play a more active role in the prevention of drinking and driving.

The Act was amended to increase the fines for breach of the obligations by the license holder to $100,000 for the first offence, and to $200,000 for a second offence.

Ramana is in-charge of Police Division 4C, which stretches from Eccles, East Bank Demerara to Moblissa on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.

He said a traffic mitigation posture has been adapted.

This, Ramana said, has resulted in a decrease in road fatalities in the division from August.

“We have seen a decrease in our fatalities. At the beginning of August, there was an increase in fatal accidents. Comparatively to 2022, we have managed to ensure that the accident rate has decreased. I think it was 60 percent at the beginning of August. To date, it’s just 7.6 percent which is a positive thing for the division,” Ramana said.

Speeding and driving under the influence are the major causes of accidents, Ramana said.

And Ramana is calling on road users to practice caution when using the roadways while abiding to the rules and regulations.

“We want to urge you to be cautious on the roadway. We can minimize our road accidents if we use the roads properly. If we follow the rules and regulations,” Ramana said.