What is the reason the newspapers report the plate number of vehicles involved in accidents? I don't ever recall seeing this, unless it's a hit and run.

quote:

Originally posted by cain:
What is the reason the newspapers report the plate number of vehicles involved in accidents? I don't ever recall seeing this, unless it's a hit and run.

Indeed this is a new trend...and I am not sure why.

The four-lane highway for the East Bank Demerara is a prescription for death and disaster
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

Dear Editor,

What is the point of holding public “consultations” if you have no intention of heeding the concerns of those consulted? On Tuesday, August 10, 2010 a meeting was held at the Providence Primary School to hear the views of residents on the construction of a 4-lane roadway on the East Bank. As a resident of Prospect, I attended, even though I was invited only one day before the meeting.

Fewer residents were present than officials and their attendants, who were attentive and courteous and accompanied with microphones and recording equipment. A presiding young lady, dignified and articulate, announced she was a social scientist. They also showed us maps of what they had already decided the road would look like and then kindly asked for our views. When I expressed the misgiving that we were there just to go through the motions, the dignified articulate social scientist assured me by gesture to the contrary.

In view of what appears to be happening I now make public my statement, which was applauded by residents at the meeting. It is roughly as follows:

The 4-way roadway proposed for the East Bank of Demerara is a prescription for death and disaster.
It will provide more scope for indulging those ingrained atrocious tendencies witnessed every day by residents – speeding, dangerous overtaking, driving with one hand on the beer bottle, fantasizing at the wheel to the blast of soca and chutney, polluting the countryside, and murdering the peace and tranquillity of the villages.

The level of dust pollution is already intolerable. My books, papers, furniture, mats, floor, all have to be frequently dusted or wiped, often twice per week. This is even if I keep one front window open. What is the consequence of this pollution for babies whose parents cannot seal up their homes and afford air conditioning? And what will happen when the flow of traffic is multiplied?

Along with dust pollution there is noise pollution. There is also the pollution of smoke and fumes and their invisible noxious contents.
Huge laden trucks, some monstrously huge, thunder along at all hours, belching out smoke and dust and noise and shaking homes to their foundations. Once past the police at Providence, they fly away at furious speeds.

Within months of the recent commissioning of the street lights on the East Bank a vehicle crashed into a pole to the south of my home. The impact was such that the lamp fell off and the pole slanted. A long splinter still grimly hangs on. Shortly after, another vehicle demolished the bridge of my neighbour to the north, ending up in the trench. Miraculously, no life was lost. Not so long ago, a DDL truck ran off the road, knocked down my neighbour’s fence, raced across his yard and headed towards my home. Disaster was averted only by the massive trunk of a large tree, which it tilted dangerously. Around this same time a minibus sped off the road and halted in the “four-foot,” after crashing into my bridge and sending boards, splinters and glass flying.

These several incidents, culled from one resident’s experience alone, are reminders of a feature of our society, namely its culture of lawlessness, which is acted out on the roads and with which the police, for whatever reason, are unable to cope effectively. There is no indication that matters will improve in the foreseeable future.

Thus, given our culture of lawlessness, current tendencies will multiply following road expansion. Furthermore, widening the road to the west will increase the probability of a particular set of perils. When one of those tall, monstrously huge trucks keels over, or runs into a house in the middle of the night, what will happen to inmates in their sleep? A word about the psychological consequences of change, of which the road expansion project is but an instance. Changes, even desirable ones, frequently generate stress, tension, disorientation and displacement.

When the volume and velocity of change overwhelm a community’s capacity to accommodate, when its threshold of tolerance is exceeded, what are the psychological consequences? How are they expressed? Crimes hitherto unheard of or rare in this country are now on the rise. Day after day the front pages of the press scream with blood and tears. Perhaps some of these things have to do with inflicting changes upon communities without their consent.

Finally, some of the dangers noted above can be avoided by building a new road about a mile to the east of the existing one – if the real aim is to relieve congestion and not to chalk up another quick plus on somebody’s CV.

Yours faithfully,
M Gopal

Source

This fuel tanker was run off the Friendship
By STABROEK STAFF | PHOTOS | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011


This fuel tanker was run off the Friendship, East Bank Demerara Public Road yesterday. The driver of the tanker and a sand truck both lost control of their vehicles when the unidentified driver of a grey Rav 4 overtook one of them just before diverting. Nezamodeen Nazir, driver of sand truck, explained that he was heading to the city when the fuel tanker was forced partially in his lane by driver of the Rav 4.

“The Rav 4 overtake him and turn into the street right in front him and like he mash brakes to avoid hitting him but ain’t got no kind of brakes and so his truck end up crossway coming to me,” Nazir explained. The man said he barely managed to pull to safety in the corner of the opposite side of the road while the tanker plunged head-on into the trench. “He barely bruise me one side,” Nazir said. Nazir added that the police took statements but did not attempt to find the Rav 4 which turned into a cross street.

Source

Psychiatrist’s car topples in Corentyne trench
SEPTEMBER 10, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS


Dr Mayda Grajales

Psychiatrist attached to the National Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Mayda Grajales, escaped with minor injuries after her vehicle ended up in a trench on the Corentyne. She has been trying to overtake a vehicle on the Susannah Public Road on the Corentyne when she ended up in a nearby trench just after 13:00 hrs on Saturday. According to eyewitnesses, the doctor, who has a private practice at Port Mourant, was heading towards New Amsterdam when she lost control of her Rav-4, PNN 4253.

Dr Mayda was quickly rescued from the vehicle by public-spirited individuals and whisked off to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where she received immediate medical attention. She was released shortly after and left for her home at Number Two Village, Corentyne, where she is resting comfortably. Traffic ranks are investigating the incident. Dr Mayda, a Cuban national, has been working at the National Psychiatric Hospital at Fort Canje for a number of years.


The vehicle which Dr Mayda was driving

Source

Happy Acres rice farmer dead after crashing into utility pole
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

A Happy Acres rice farmer on Friday night succumbed to injuries, after the vehicle he was driving crashed into a utility pole and some concrete piles at Planters Hall, Mahaicony. Dead is Deodat Singh, 44 of Lot 24 Happy Acres, East Coast Demerara. Police in a release said that the fatal accident occurred around 10.30 pm on the Planters Hall Public Road.

Investigations revealed that Singh was driving a Toyota Tundra GJJ 4811 allegedly at a fast rate, when he lost control of the vehicle, causing him to crash into the pole and concrete piles. Police said he received injuries and was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.


Deodat Singh

Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday, the man’s wife Priya related that her husband was a rice farmer and had his fields at Abary Creek, Mahaicony, which was where he was returning from when the accident occurred. The woman stated that Singh had workers who do the farming up there, but he would on a regular basis travel up to oversee the work. “We would normally go with him but we just returned from overseas and me and the kids were tired so he went alone,” she said.

Priya said her husband had also travelled overseas with them but he had returned earlier. She recalled that he left for Mahaicony on Tuesday morning around 7 am and was due to return on Friday afternoon. However, she related that he met up with some friends in the village and they “had a few drinks then he drive up”. She also surmised that it could have been tiredness that contributed to the accident.

This newspaper understands that one of Singh’s workers was travelling with him at the time of the accident, but he escaped uninjured. Priya related that following the accident, the worker, called “Rudy”, hailed a passing minibus, which transported them first to Singh’s home in Happy Acres [“to get someone to go with him to the hospital”], then to the hospital. Priya was also informed that her husband “walked to the bus”. The dead man’s wife related that he had already succumbed by the time the bus arrived at their home.

Priya was the only one who saw her husband before he left for Mahaicony on Tuesday, as their children; Romesh, 15; Roshanie, 14; Ramia, 12; and Devya, 10; were all asleep. With tears in her eyes, the woman recalled her husband’s last words to her were “are you ok?” Ramia recently sat the Grade Six Assessment, where she successfully attained a position at St Joseph High School. All four of Singh’s children are students of School of the Nations. Singh also leaves to mourn his mother and three sisters.

Source

Triumph woman killed after hit by car in Regent St – had just left a liquor store
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

A 52-year-old woman was last night hit down and killed by a car on Regent Street in the vicinity of Kanhai’s Electrical Store as she was attempting to cross the road. The driver is in police custody. Dead is Drewpattie Richards of Triumph, East Coast Demerara who was killed minutes after leaving a Robb Street, Bourda liquor store. Reports reaching Stabroek News are that the woman was seen staggering across the road before the car, PKK 8612 collided with her. The driver rushed the barely alive Richards to the Georgetown Hospital just before 8 pm. She breathed her last breath in the treatment room of the Accident and Emergency Unit.

This newspaper was told that she sustained massive head injuries. When this newspaper arrived at the scene, one side of her slipper was still on the roadway. The point of impact as well as where her body lay after the collision was already marked. At the hospital, the woman’s two children were distraught. Richards’s husband Norman Bennett told this newspaper that the woman’s niece had called and informed them that Richards had been involved in an accident and was dead.

He said that he along with their children and other relatives went to the Georgetown Hospital where she was positively identified. The man said that Richards would normally “come to town to take some liquor”. The woman apparently had a favourite spot as when relatives wanted to reach her they would call that shop. He said that it was the same drinking problem that got her involved in another accident a few months ago. She sustained a broken ankle, he said. According to relatives, Richards left home on Friday morning but they were adamant that she was not in the habit of staying away for long periods of time.

Source

Driver in Crane hit-and-run death still at large - families struggling with challenges
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

Almost seven weeks have passed and relatives are still hoping to have the person who killed 26-year-old Kaishri ‘Nanda’ Persaud and injured 17-year-old Trisha Defreitas in a hit-and-run be arrested and brought to justice. Persaud, of Lot 10 Crane, Old Road, died while being transported to the West Demerara Hospital while Trisha Defreitas, a United States-based Guyanese, suffered several broken bones, including her pelvis which is fractured in three places. The mother of three and Defreitas were knocked down on July 26 at Crane, West Coast Demerara.

There have been reports that Persaud’s husband, Terry, was offered a settlement but the man has denied this, stating that no one has ever come forward. “We are still at the same point we were during the period of the accident…it got a lot of things going around but you can’t believe everything you hear… I still have no clue who it is,” Terry pointed out.


Kaishri Persaud

He further stated that the police told him that they have had a few leads but nothing came out of any. Defreitas’ mother, Rose, reiterated that there has been no such proposal. “Up to yesterday he (Terry) was telling me that he hearing people saying that but he said is not true,” she said. The family, Rose stated, would not mind taking a settlement since this would help in looking after the three children Persaud has left behind, ages 8, 6 and 11 months.

She further stated that Terry now faces the challenge of caring for the three children on his own and hasn’t been able to work since he has no one to look after the minors while he is away. “He got a lot of job offers since but he waiting on his mother to come to look after them,” she noted. “I know them miss they mother… they is come here steady and play and I does try to help out as best as possible but it still feels like yesterday,” she said, adding that next week Saturday the woman would have celebrated her 27th birthday.

Meanwhile, Defreitas is scheduled to have surgery performed on her left foot this week. “She have a big lump at the side of her leg and the doctor said that is a permanent damage… she still don’t have no feeling in her foot,” Rose noted. “She is now able to sit up… she can stand up and walk too but only with the walker… she can’t put no pressure on the left foot,” she explained. Her daughter, she said, is still very upset at Nanda’s death. The woman said she will be taking her daughter back to the U.S. next month where she will have to remain in bed for another 2 months. Rose further expressed her frustration with the police, relating that all she has been told is that the “case still open”.

“We got to lef this in the hands of God…we don’t know who this person is, they just disappear into thin air,” she said. “I just hope when we go back (to the U.S.) I can get some better news and my daughter can walk again,” she expressed. Rose is pleading for the driver to come forward and offer some form of assistance to Persaud’s family. “I wish they can show lil compassion because I know how it hard,” she stated.

Source

Triumph woman injured in hit-and-run
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

A 25-year-old woman was last evening injured in a hit-and-run accident at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara. Relatives are concerned about if she might have sustained head injuries. Gomattie ‘Ashley’ Pooran, of 23 Doctor Miller Street, Triumph, E.C.D., was walking home while pushing her bicycle in the company of her aunt just before 7 pm when she was struck down.

According to the woman’s aunt, Sunita, they were walking along the Railway Embankment when a car came from behind and hit her, pelting her some distance away while dragging the bicycle for a few seconds. She noted that her niece cried out for pain and she was only able to observe a bruised knee and a chop to her forehead.


Gomattie ‘Ashley’ Pooran

She explained that she was not harmed as she was walking in the corner while Pooran kept on the outside. Sunita further stated that as she panicked, she did not even take a second glance at the vehicle but said that other witnesses reported that it was a white car. At the entrance of the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital last evening, the woman’s relatives were seen awaiting word from the doctor regarding her condition. Another relative stated that they have not seen a doctor as yet but added that it was a “head knock”.

It was noted that the police managed to retrieve a mirror from the vehicle which had broken off and was left on the injured woman’s bicycle.

Source

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard Ramsaroop:
The four-lane highway for the East Bank Demerara is a prescription for death and disaster
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

This person is very self centered cares not for development. He did not put forward a single flaw in the construction design and based his arguments on how his quality of life will be affected.

Should we reconsider a much needed 4 lane highway because a little dust will get into his home?

I wouldn't. The road will bring relief to thousands who have to travel along the east bank corridor every day.

He has not justified the title of his letter.

quote:

Originally posted by The Blade Runner:

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard Ramsaroop:
The four-lane highway for the East Bank Demerara is a prescription for death and disaster
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

This person is very self centered cares not for development. He did not put forward a single flaw in the construction design and based his arguments on how his quality of life will be affected.

Should we reconsider a much needed 4 lane highway because a little dust will get into his home?

I wouldn't. The road will bring relief to thousands who have to travel along the east bank corridor every day.

He has not justified the title of his letter.

In fairness Blade, what the writer is referring to is the existing situation. I agree, we need the 4-lane highway, but if we do not enforce the rules of the road, and weight restrictions, it is but a recipe for disaster. The writer has obviously no faith that there will be adequate enforcement. Understandably so.

Teen killed after car crashes into utility pole
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

A 17-year-old boy lost his life on Sunday night when the car he was driving crashed into a utility pole on the Number 19 Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice. Shavez Welcome called ‘Lagadeau’, of Mayor and Town Council Housing Scheme was driving PLL 8762 while Alistair Henry and Babita Persaud of Asylum Street were in the rear seats of the vehicle. They were returning to their New Amsterdam homes from the Digicel-sponsored curry competition at Number 63 Beach, Corentyne when the crash occurred around 9 pm. Following the crash, the severely injured former Berbice High Student was removed from the vehicle but he appeared to be already dead, eyewitnesses said. He and the others were taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where doctors confirmed his death, while Henry and Persaud were admitted.


Shavez Welcome

Speaking from his bed in the male surgical ward yesterday, Henry said he was seated in the rear seat, with his girlfriend Persaud, while Welcome was behind the wheel. He said he did not know what caused the accident. Henry sustained fractures to the collar bone, left arm, two left ribs, left third toe, and his right foot. Persaud sustained internal injuries. She was unable to say what may have triggered the fatal accident which killed their youthful friend. Meanwhile, a driver reported that following the show and competition at the beach, several cars had sped off, including the ill-fated PLL 8762. According to the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, he followed behind but had a call of nature which forced him to stop. When he caught up with the car Welcome was driving it was “wrapped around the lantern post”, he said.


The car in which Shavez Welcome lost his life on Sunday night.

He said he stopped and assisted in taking the bloodied teenager and the other occupants out of the vehicle before continuing his journey. When this newspaper contacted Shavez Welcome’s mother Jillian Welcome, she was too distraught to speak. Shavez, who would have celebrated his 18th birthday on October 14, leaves to mourn his parents, sister and other relatives.

Source

Accident on No 19 Public Road leaves one dead…driver was reportedly unlicensed
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS


The Berbice accident

An accident on the Susannah Public Road, East Coast Berbice, on Sunday evening claimed the life of a young unlicensed driver. Reports are that the vehicle, a black Toyota Carina PLL 8762 owned by Ramesh Baron of Gangaram and driven by Travis Lagadoo, 17, of 219 M&TC Housing Scheme, New Amsterdam, was going at a fast rate of speed towards New Amsterdam with two passengers. In the vicinity of Susannah the driver lost control of the car and it slammed into a GPL Utility Pole. The impact plunged the entire area into darkness.


Dead: Travis Lagadoo

According to eyewitnesses after they heard the impact the place got immediate ‘blackout’. They hurried to the scene and saw three persons in the vehicle. The driver was pinned in front and was bleeding profusely. The residents stated that he seemed unconscious. Alistair Henry and his wife Babita Seepersaud, both of New Amsterdam, were in the back seat. They were reportedly coming from the Digicel Event at the Number 63 Beach. The resident stated that they assisted in freeing the three occupants who were then placed in a minibus and rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where the driver was pronounced dead on arrival.

Residents said that the woman who suffered a broken leg told them that she repeatedly warned the driver not to go so fast. He was reportedly travelling at 160 KPH. It was reported that the car was rented from Barran. At the Beach, Lagadoo collected the car and decided to make a quick trip to New Amsterdam. Reports are that he was not a licenced driver. It is understood that his relatives did not know where he was, because he was not supposed to go to the beach. The injured couple is at the New Amsterdam hospital. The accident occurred not too far from where 12 persons died last year in a horrific accident involving a truck and a minibus.

And in the city, residents of Queenstown got a glimpse of a familiar scene — two cars colliding at the intersection of Church and New Garden Streets. A hire car heading north along New Garden Street refused to stop at the intersection and got hit by a car travelling east along Church Street. The impact sent the hire car slamming into a lamppost. No one was seriously hurt but traffic was snarled until the police cleared the wreck.


The accident in the city

Source

Wherever the buses are going, the place will still be there
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Dear Editor,

Every day on my way to school, I look at the minibuses passing; they are always speeding. And they wouldn’t slow down at all. I think in their minds, they are saying ‘the faster I go the more money I will earn’, but to me the faster they go, the more lives they put at risk!

Even when there are children in the bus, they don’t care. You see I don’t know why they have to speed because wherever they are going, the place will still be there. Maybe they think it will get up and leave. The accidents that have happened in the past were mainly caused by buses. And 93% of the time the passengers are always getting injured or even killed!

I hope that when they go past the speed limit they will get a fine. And then sometimes they drive with an expired licence. The dumb part is when they speed the passengers enjoy it along with the loud music! It is despicable.

So I hope those who read this will understand it and you will agree with me! Please learn to speak up and be independent. Do it for yourself !
Thank you for reading!

Yours faithfully,
Sarah Alexzandria Lewis
(11 years old)

Source

Our leaders continue to fiddle in their ivory towers...

Lethem man killed in tractor trailer accident
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Lethem resident Colin Pedro, 21, died on the spot on Tuesday night following a vehicular accident along the Lethem trail in Region Nine. According to reports, on Tuesday evening, Colin Pedro, his brother Lawrence Pedro and Compton Greene were travelling from Lethem to the community of Yurupukari on a tractor when the incident occurred.

Police said in a press release thatColin Pedro of St Ignatius was in a trailer being pulled by a tractor when the driver lot control of the vehicle which resulted in the trailer toppling and pinning Colin Pedro who was pronounced dead on arrival at the Lethem Hospital. According to an eyewitness, the driver incident occurred some 39 miles north of Lethem in the vicinity of Mertizero, some 10 miles shy of Yurupukari.

The deceased was at the time travelling at the back of the trailer along with Greene while his brother, who according to a police source was under the influence of alcohol at the time, was driving the vehicle. The police release said the driver was tested with the use of the breathalyzer and found to be over the prescribed limit in relation to alcohol consumed. The police said he was also an unlicensed driver and he was taken into custody.

Colin Pedro died of multiple injuries including to his head, feet and shoulder. The other two men sustained injuries to their feet, hands and heads, a resident of the community said yesterday. The men were transporting furniture to a school at Yurupukari at the time of the accident. A source at the Lethem hospital said yesterday that the relatives of the deceased were upset that hospital staff did not respond to the incident promptly since none of the three doctors or the driver of the hospital’s ambulance could be located when initial reports were received. Pedro’s body is at the Lethem hospital mortuary.

Source

The authorities should do something about the transportation sector
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Dear Editor,

The transportation sector is one of the biggest employment sectors in Guyana employing directly or indirectly several thousand persons as drivers, conductors, mechanics, upholsterers, wash-bay attendants, gas station attendants, tint shop personnel, vulcanizers, number-plate craftsman, auto and spare parts store salespersons, auto electricians, road repairers – and the list goes on – yet it is the most unregulated sector.

The problems associated with this sector, especially the minibus and hire-car drivers include drinking and driving under the influence. Alcohol is available cheap at parks and shops throughout Guyana. One wonders how often the breathalyzer test is administered and where? More often than not drivers can be seen imbibing at parks especially in the afternoons and on weekends and they often ‘lime’ and occupy parking space. There are too many beer carts close by parking areas which encourages drivers as well as passengers to grab an alcoholic beverage. The problem is, why are these carts allowed to sell inside these parks?

Then there is overloading and overcharging. No price control structure is published by the agencies monitoring public transportation. Speeding: the last critical accident was in Homestretch Avenue. Has anyone stopped to think about the reasons for speeding? Operators are forced to meet targets for the owners, or drivers are under the influence. Accidents can be caused too by a faulty vehicle which passes the fitness test because a bribe has been paid, or which has smooth tyres.

There is inadequate parking for minibuses and hire-cars because vendors occupy parking spaces and refuse to move elsewhere. In addition, parks are not fully utilized in the right way. Parks also lack basic facilities such as a place to get water to do a quick tidying of vehicles while waiting; no garbage disposal, a lack of lighting, and a lack of a public conveniences. The lack of a police presence in the parks means commuters and drivers suffer ‘eyepass’ due to other drivers blocking active driveways, or buses stopping to ‘juggle’ passengers, etc.

Many police officers are the owners of minibuses and taxis which sometimes break the law. In addition, some vehicle owners will pay to get fitness. If one travels on some minibus routes one will find that they have back seats which are too high, they lack proper ventilation, have tinted glass, torn seats, a shabby dashboard and broken doors. Are these people not making money? Are there no standards for vehicles; what are the authorities doing? There is no code of conduct for drivers and conductors. They curse, abuse passengers, disrespect elderly people, litter parks, abuse alcohol and smoke while on the job. Some of them keep themselves untidily, and are not shaved, wear short pants, rubber slippers, head cloths and armless vests. Bribery is a problem. It is intolerable to have to listen to some of the songs that are played in these vehicles. Songs today emanate mostly from Jamaica and will often have the most debasing lyrics.

There are possible steps that the authorities could take. They could clear the parks of beer carts and create a common area for them to sell. They should hurry up and put the traffic wardens in place with the responsibility of ridding the park of schoolchildren after work and checking buses for overloading. Also, the seats of minibuses should be redesigned so they have fifteen single seats fitted with belts to prevent overloading. The government could cushion some of the costs of importing the materials; this would create employment for welders and the technical schools, as well as making openings for new jobs.

There should be more TV call-in programmes, and the police should be able to speak to pedestrians about the way they stand on the road, how they use pedestrian crossings, walking at night, riding and how far they should stand from a corner. Passengers should be told not to disturb others in a minibus with loud music on their cell phones, and they should have a programme for drivers too. Many drivers need to be educated too about stopping close to corners. The police need to pull up people when they lapse.

There should be more speed humps and officers with speed guns as well as more mobile traffic units. Vendors with clothes stalls, etc, who park in spaces designated for minibuses and cars should be removed, and the police should monitor the situation daily. They need mobile units in the parks to ensure order and decency. Where bribery is concerned, there should be a proper ticket book system that is pre-numbered so tickets can be issued for the various offences. The fines for the offence of overloading should be reduced to discourage bribe-taking, and there should be an offences log for vehicles and operators so action can be taken in the future.

There should be a total ban on music in minibuses, and music lovers should carry their own headphones which would create a new wave of employment for people selling and repairing electronic gadgets. People should also be prosecuted for disturbing others in minibuses; calm and peace should be maintained while travelling.

I would only hope that the relevant authorities responsible for public transport, traffic, local government can swiftly implement some rules and make some urgent changes especially in respect of music, vending, the encroachment on parks, bribery, fitness checks and selling alcohol in parks. They should also do a proper study of the public transport system in Guyana.

Yours faithfully,
Derrick Persaud

Stabroek News

Kaieteur News

UPDATED: Two dead in Region 7 truck accident
Written by Kwesi Isles Thursday, 15 September 2011 11:51

Two persons have been killed and several others injured following an accident involving a truck in the Bartica area, Region Seven on Thursday. Dead is Dorette Donald, born in 1978 and Loretta Lewis born in 1992.

Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com) understands that the two along with four other passengers were in the truck on the Barama trail heading to a place named Oku when the the truck failed to negotiate a hill and came crashing down backwards. Reports say the driver identified only as Leon so far, of Third Street Bartica, is among those injured.

Source

Itaballi crash victims ID’ed as Berbice cousins - were going on second trip
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Cousins Loretta Lewis, 20, and Dorrett Donald, 33, of Corentyne, Berbice, were only on their second trip to sell clothing in Region 7 when they were killed in a truck crash on Thursday morning. The two women who were killed when the truck, bearing licence plate GMM 9254, rolled down a hill around 7:30 am on Thursday on the Barama Road, at Itaballi.


Loretta Lewis

Police said yesterday that Lewis, of Scotsburg, Corentyne and Donald, of No. 78 Village, Corentyne, were among eight passengers seated in the tray of the truck when it “began rolling back down a hill which the driver was ascending….” The release said too that the driver, Leon D’Abreu, 33, of Third Avenue, Bartica, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to topple. The truck was at the time transporting fuel and goods along with the passengers.

D’Abreu and the other passengers sustained injuries and are receiving medical attention at the Bartica Hospital. Reports are that Lewis died on the spot while Donald died on her way to the hospital. Lewis’ sister, Vanetta Douglas, 30, said the two women left on Tuesday morning “to go in the bush.” They were going there for the second time to vend clothing.


Dorrett Donald

She said Lewis called their mother, Eryl Lewis, around 2 am on that fateful day to say that they were leaving for their destination and her mother wished her “good luck.” Later that day she received the shocking news about her daughter’s demise. A close friend of the deceased, who resides at Princetown, Corriverton, was also in the truck and he phoned his mother and told her about the accident. He did not receive serious injuries. Lewis leaves to mourn her two-year-old daughter, who lives with Eryl, while Donald is survived by her three children and her husband, Lloyd Donald.

Source

Four injured after bus topples into Mocha trench…driver claims “steering cut”
SEPTEMBER 16, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

Four persons were injured after a minibus toppled several times before landing upside down in a trench at Mocha-Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, yesterday. The injured were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. There was a mixture of school children and adults in the bus which was reportedly not at capacity, in terms of passengers. Kaieteur News undertsands that the driver told the police that his steering “cut” and he consequently lost control of the vehicle. The injured persons were saved by residents of Mocha.

Peeved residents in the area blamed the accident on the badly damaged roads, which they believe may have contributed to the steering damage of the vehicle, since drivers have to swerve from potholes daily. A number of residents noted that since there are new housing schemes popping up in the area, heavy duty trucks are causing severe damage to the roads when they traverse the area in the wee hours of the morning to carry building materials.

Source


Stabroek News Photo
Source

Aftermath of Mocha accident….Mocha residents protest for better roads
SEPTEMBER 17, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

After a minibus toppled into a canal that runs alongside the Mocha Public Road and injured several persons Thursday afternoon in Mocha-Arcadia, residents decided to protest the deplorable condition of the roadway yesterday. Scores of residents turned out and blocked several parts of the road with pieces of lumber, rocks, concrete posts, and any other obstacle they found.

The chairman of the community, Gregory John, told this newspaper that the road, which was built in 1964 under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, was not intended to withstand the amount of heavy traffic that presently traverse. He added that he believes that “the PPP/C should come on board to make the relevant repairs to the road because that road has outlived its usefulness.”


An excavator being used to clear the road that was blocked by residents with lumber and concrete posts.

Some of the methods used to block the roadway included the burning of tyres at the centre of the road. There were also concrete columns, an old fridge and other waste materials that had been dumped alongside the road. Most persons on their way to work and school found it necessary to walk to the East Bank Demerara public road –a distance of some three miles– to get transportation since the road was closed to vehicular traffic. Others joined the protest.

However, the police who arrived at the scene eventually managed to control the situation after Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, arrived in Mocha and told residents that road works will begin today. He added that had he been aware of the state of the road, he would have taken steps to repair it. Minister Benn assured the crowd that he was going to meet with the contractors responsible for the two housing projects to discuss the patching of the potholes. He also promised to meet with a small group of residents at 10:00 hours today for further discussions.

The Minister said that to set up roadblocks on a public access road was unlawful and urged the residents to remove the blockage. He noted, however, that much cannot be done to the entire road since work in the two new schemes must continue and potholes will continue to develop as the large vehicles traverse. One resident then raised the issue of the roads within the community. Benn explained that he is not responsible for community roads but disclosed that there are projects set up by the Ministry of Housing to target community roads. He added that Mocha may be one of the villages on the East Bank district list. The debris was eventually cleared from the area with the assistance of police and an excavator.



Some of the residents in action


Two women were arrested and later released. They were accused of not keeping the protest peaceful. And while the protest raged, school children, workers, and business persons were left to foot it to the East Bank public road, some three miles away, after vehicles were blocked from entering the village. When this publication visited the area there were sprawling pot holes, and severe cracks in the roadway. Concerned residents voiced their displeasure at the way in which Mocha residents are being treated under the present administration.

One woman explained since the building of the new housing schemes in the area the heavy duty trucks have caused major damage to the roads and have forced taxis to refuse to travel along the path. School children being made to walk out since minibuses are sometimes reluctant to venture along the deplorable road. “Let them know we don’t want plenty sand and loam and a thin surface that breaks away quickly…We know there has to be housing schemes, because we need land and houses but still you can’t be damaging the road that we have to use every day.” One woman said, “We don’t mind them using the road, but as they destroy it, let them patch it back properly. If a pregnant woman got to go out of this road now, by the time she reach out she will deliver on the road.”

Many residents contended that when the President told the nation that he was a President for all the people, if he forgot that Mocha was part of the population. Some residents noted that persons in their vehicles are also robbed while slowing down at major pot holes. “We need street lights on the roads and proper drainage in this area. What is the government doing for us?” another woman questioned. Minister Benn is to plan a meeting with the contractors whose vehicles are responsible for destroying the road.


One of the many barriers

“Mocha is the place that time forgot, and nothing is being done for us. Even the stuff that we blocked the road is what people dump on the road. This place turn a dumping ground…This village is not PPP, PNC or AFC; this is Mocha and we need help.” one man stated.

Source

A trench caught this one
SEPTEMBER 17, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS



The driver of this taxi yesterday morning, inexplicably, lost control as he approached a bridge under construction at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara. That error caused him to land in the nearby trench. Fortunately, there was no injuries.

Source

Thank God for the rails!
SEPTEMBER 18, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS



The driver of a Suzuki Vitara apparently was going too fast around midnight, Friday. He crashed head on into the guard rails before the vehicle flipped in mid-air and landed on its top in the trench separating Farm and Herstelling villages. Fortunately, there were no injuries but the vehicle was badly damaged and the rails.

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Pedestrian’s leg crushed by sand truck
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

Doctors were yesterday trying to save the left leg of a 48-year-old pedestrian, who was hit by a speeding sand truck near his home at Friendship, East Bank Demerara. The victim, Trevor Melville, has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. Melville’s daughter, Jessica Melville, said she was standing on her step watching her father cross the road when the truck “appeared from nowhere” and struck him down.

Jessica emphasized that the driver and his female passenger stepped out of the truck and started quarrelling with a pedestrian who voiced his concerns about the accident. She recalled that the woman started shouting “he shoulda dead, he wan drunk man’. However, Jessica claimed that her father was not intoxicated. Jessica related that the truck driver left her father on the roadway. And the family was forced to pay a taxi $6,000 to take her dad to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, East Bank Demerara.

According to Melville’s sister, Doreen James, when Melville arrived at the hospital it was discovered that his left foot was badly broken and he was given saline. However, the family was informed that the hospital cannot treat him further. As such he was transferred to GPHC. He was taken to the Accident and Emergency Unit before being admitted to the ICU. James noted that the police are investigating the matter and the family will pursue the case until justice is served. It was related that this is not the first time Melville fell prey to a road accident. However, the previous case the perpetrators walked free and the family vowed that that will not recur.

Source

Asst. Superintendent hits down pedal cyclist
Written by Denis Scott Chabrol Saturday, 17 September 2011 16:32

A senior officer of the Georgetown City Constabulary on Saturday struck down a pedal cyclist on the Vreed-en-Hoop Public Road and he was released on GUY$20,000 bail. Assistant Superintendent, Gordon Langevine was driving his car in an easterly direction when he allegedly overtook a car and struck down the pedal cyclist. Langevine received minor injuries and was fully alert and mobile.

Injured his Kumar Rampersaud,41, of 104 Best Village, West Coast Demerara. Relatives said Rampersaud also known as Brother was under the influence of alcohol. Eyewitnesses said the father of two, who works at Puran’s garbage disposal company, plunged through the windscreen of Langevine’s car.
Relatives told Demerara Waves that immediately after the accident occurred, Langevine got another car and rushed the injured man to the hospital.
The mangled remains of the bicycle and the damaged car were still on the scene when Demerara Waves visited the area.

Langevine has agreed to transfer Rampersaud, who suffered severe head and bodily injuries, to the Woodlands Hospital as part of the settlement. The injured man was conscious but obviously shaken by the accident. Traffic police turned up at the hospital and told the City Constabulary officer that he has to go to the station where bail was granted.





Source

Five car smash up leaves three hospitalized
SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

Five car owners are now counting their losses after their vehicles were involved in a smash up around 19:30 hrs on Sunday evening on the Cumberland, East Canje Public Road. The accident has left three persons hospitalized and many others nursing various injuries and bruises.

Although information has been scarce in coming, Kaieteur News understands that the vehicles were speeding and that some of the drivers were under the influence of alcohol. Some of the vehicles also were ferrying passengers, many of whom were going home from the Rotary Club’s Gymkhana which was held at the Rose Hall Community Centre in Canje. It is understood that one of the cars while trying to overtake the others, clipped the rear view mirror of another. The driver of that car panicked and lost control of his vehicle which then spun out of control and crashed into some others. Four of the cars were badly damaged.

The police are investigating.


Three of the cars involved in the accident

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Pedestrian struck by sand truck still critical
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

The pedestrian, Trevor Melville, who was struck down by a sand truck on Sunday last, near his home at Friendship, East Bank Demerara is still in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). According to Melville’s sister, Doreen James, her brother is showing signs of improvements as he is now off the life support machine, but still has tubes attached to his nose. James noted that it is yet unclear whether the 48-year-old man will be able to use his left leg that was seriously injured in the accident.

The woman revealed that when she visited the Diamond/Grove Police Station, East Bank Demerara to ascertain the progress of the investigations into the matter, the police informed her that they have a man in custody. However, the name of the individual is unknown to the family and the only lead they have is the licence plate of the truck that struck Melville. According to Melville’s daughter, Jessica Melville, who witnessed the accident, she was standing on her step watching her father cross the road when the truck “appeared from nowhere” and struck him down.

Jessica emphasised that the driver and his female passenger stepped out of the truck and started quarrelling with a pedestrian who voiced his concerns about the accident. She recalled that the woman started shouting “he shoulda dead, he wan drunk man’. However, Jessica claimed that her father was not intoxicated. Jessica related that the truck driver left her father on the roadway and the family was forced to pay a taxi $6,000 to take her dad to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, East Bank Demerara, where he was given saline and attempts were made to stop the bleeding. Melville was then transferred to GPHC for further treatment.

Source

Could there be a little more care and consideration on our roads?
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

Dear Editor,

What do our visitors to Guyana think of our taxi drivers and many motor vehicle drivers, who exhibit the minimum of road courtesy, when it comes to the use of their horns? Not only is this behaviour disgusting and very annoying but it is also downright discourteous. Who is responsible for teaching them road courtesy?

A driver, after signalling appropriately, stops to permit the elderly person, who is bent in half almost and moving with the aid of a cane, to cross the road. But motorists behind the stationary car start to blow their horns and do not stop until the driver ahead moves. The message that the noisy motorists are giving is ‘Drive ahead and kill, I am in a hurry.‘ A courteous vehicle driver would be exposed to this same type of discourtesy if he/she stopped for little ones to cross or to allow a driver to exit his residence to join the line of traffic!

Again, one experiences the same kind of constant horn-blowing (attacks of hornitis) the moment the traffic light changes to green. Motorists begin sounding horns as if to say, ‘Drive – drive – drive without caring. Move fast. We are late.‘ Dave Martins once referred to this disease as “hornitis.” However the stage at which it is today, this must be “multiple hornitis.”

Can there be a little more care and consideration on our roads?

Yours faithfully,
Joyce Sinclair

Source

Injured cyclist discharged but still gravely ill
SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER NEWS

It has been more than two months since Damion Barry, 16, was knocked down while riding his cycle on the Fort Canje Public Road. He is still gravely ill. He was injured on July 4 (Caricom Day) by a speeding car driven by a drunken driver on the Fort Canje Public Road just off the Canje Bridge in the vicinity of the Fort Canje Hospital and the New Amsterdam Technical Institute.

Barry, of Lot 13 East Canefield, East Canje, Berbice remains seriously ill. He is unable to talk, walk or eat at home. He cannot do anything for himself and is being taken care of by his relatives. His relatives are peeved that he was discharged from the New Amsterdam Hospital in such a condition. “Strangely enough he has been sent home although unable to do anything for himself.” The lad spent more that a month in a coma in the Georgetown Public Hospital. He was however transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital and was sent home a week ago. The lad has tubes attached to various parts of his body. He is fed through a tube and cannot breathe properly.

The relatives are also not happy that the driver has not been charged after close to three months. According to his relatives the lad was at the time of the accident doing a SIMAP programme at a Mechanic shop in the area and was due to graduate this month (September). He left home to purchase a pair of shoes and clothes for his graduation and was on his way back home when he was struck down by the speeding car. Damion has lost a lot of weight since the accident.


The Injured Damion Barry at home

The relatives stated that they never knew about the accident until after 08:00 hrs the following morning. By that time he was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. His mother, Hyacinth Barry, stated that they are finding it very difficult to cope with the situation. “It hard to see your loved one is such a state,” a family member stated. The lad was injured about 15:00 hrs on the day in question by a speeding white Toyota 212 motor car, PKK 6296, which was heading towards New Amsterdam.

Reports are that the driver lost control and slammed into Barry before plunging into a trench outside the Fort Canje hospital. According to an eyewitness, the car was speeding off the Canje Bridge and was in the vicinity of the New Amsterdam Technical Institute when the driver, in trying to overtake another vehicle lost control and struck Damion who was heading in the opposite direction on the other side of the road. Damion was picked up in an unconscious condition, bleeding profusely and rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital before he was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Damion suffered severe head injuries, broken limbs and internal injuries.

The driver has been out on station bail since.

Source

Guyana’s finest are not setting good examples on our roads
SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER LETTERS

Dear Editor,

I find it most hilarious when the police and Minister of Home Affairs make attempts to sensitise the general public of the safe and proper use of the roads when members of the police force are the worst in this regard.

Let me list some of the frequent practices of Guyana’s finest.

· Double-parking to chat with a fellow driver, purchasing from a street vendor or trying to get the attention of females walking on the roadways.
· Using their sirens to never stop at traffic lights or intersections.
· Driving vehicles with little or no proper working lights.
· Parking their motorcycles or cars anywhere to address a driver thus causing a further hazard/obstruction to other road users.
· Driving and riding up one way streets.
· Driving in the wrong lanes at junctions/traffic signals
· Driving without using seat belts.

Correct me if I am wrong, but is it because they essentially make and are supposed to enforce the law that they are authorised to break the law at their own free will?

In addition to the above listed practices, they continue to selectively stop SUVs and pick-up trucks for “routine” traffic and security checks while our roads happen to be most populated by taxis and private sedans. How often do criminals use SUVs and pick-up trucks to commit a crime? What a wonderful strategy in helping to stop traffic offences and crime in Guyana!

Disgusted road user

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Blatant disregard on Harbour Bridge
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER LETTERS

Dear Editor,

On September 14, I was on my way home in the regular afternoon rush hour traffic over the Demerara Harbour Bridge; traffic was heavy, the female Special Constable was directing the traffic. Up comes this guy with a black Tacoma bearing the number plate GNN1885. He was instructed to wait as he was poking his way through the traffic, he wind down his window and verbally abused the female rank on duty, telling her to go and put on a sleeve and then talk to him. He then disobeyed her orders to wait his turn in the line. This guy bullied his way through the traffic, overtaking vehicles on the bridge; there was no double lane as traffic was flowing both ways. I was curious to get his license plate but he kept poking his way ahead. It was not until the vehicle stopped at the junction I got a quick look at the license plate. His immature behaviour could have caused accidents to vehicles approaching in the opposite lane.

I think males should work along on the bridge with females because of some errant delinquent drivers and their disrespect for the females. Security can be seen at both crossings of the bridge, but what about the middle of the bridge? There is also a sign on the bridge boldly proclaiming NO OVERTAKING. There is need also for either another bridge across the Demerara River or a road; this one bridge cannot take off the traffic load. When the bridge opens traffic is at a stand still. Government should build a bridge high enough that does not have to open for vessels to pass under the bridge.

Secondly, the just completed La Penitence Public road is a death zone; drivers hardly want to stop for pedestrians and other vehicles to cross. Since that road opened I witnessed two accidents where speeding vehicles hit persons down, one was a child, the other an adult the man who was in the corner. This vehicle hit the man. Then the occupants of the car exited and before rendering assistance, asked the man if he is blind and if he was not watching where he going. After much protest by some persons who rushed to the man’s aid, the occupants of the car drove off with the man. I would recommend that the government place a stop light at La Penitence Public road and Sussex Street. I had to cross some children over the road. Even on stop signs they want to kill you. There is no regards for the road or human lives at all.

Thirdly, I compliment the Housing Ministry for helping people to become home owners. Dairy is a much developed community, but the transportation woes one has to face in the mornings and evenings getting to work and home is tiresome. Some of the drivers look at face and customers, while many are left stranded on the road. The transportation woes need urgent attention; public transportation is a headache. When the drivers feel like stopping, they do.

Yvette Munroe

Source

Baby killed in minibus, bush truck accident
Written by Demerara Waves Friday, 23 September 2011 13:48

A baby has been killed and eight others injured following an accident between a truck and a minibus on the way to Mahdia, Region Eight. Reports reaching Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com) state that the infant was killed when Mahdia bus BNN 9547 and a "bush truck" collided on the 40 Mile, Mabura Road around 9 AM Friday. Both legs of the bus driver were reportedly broken.

The names of the casualties are still to be ascertained.

Source

Infant among two killed in Mabura crash
By CATHY RICHARDS | LOCAL | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 Updated: 8:51 am

A six-month old infant was among two killed along the Mabura Road, when a minibus collided head on with a truck yesterday morning. Elvis Bennett, 38, of Ruimveldt, Georgetown and infant Melisa Douglas, of Mahdia, died on the spot. They were both passengers of the bus, BMM 9301, which was bound for Mabura when the accident occurred, at about 11:30 am. Police last evening said the bus was moving at a fast rate and while negotiating a turn along 35 Miles, Mabura the driver ended up in the lane of the truck, which bore licence plate number GNN 2699.

Bennett and the child were pronounced dead on arrival at the Linden Hospital Complex, where 13 other passengers and the driver of the bus as well as the driver and an occupant of the truck were treated. Some who suffered serious injuries were later rushed to the Georgetown Hospital for further treatment. The scene at the Linden Hospital was chaotic as persons tried to find their injured relatives, while the medical team tried desperately to provide them with the best possible care before transporting them to the city.


The truck after the collision along the Mabura Road.

The occupants of the truck were identified as George Allen and his son, Sekky Jassento. The driver of the bus was identified as Curtis Garraway, of Nandy Park, Georgetown, while passengers included the mother of the dead child, Bonita Douglas, Grover Adams, Simone Lyght, Natasha Young, of Caneville, Grove, East Bank Demerara, Vernon Keryenhoff, of New Road Vreed-en-Hoop, Carla Johnson of Mahdia, and Patricia Liverpool. Liverpool, a mother of five, suffered head and leg injuries and was said to be in a serious condition when she was admitted at the Georgetown Hospital. Her husband, who is the station sergeant at the Mahdia Police Station, said that he felt responsible for his wife. According to him, because he had to be at work for three months before returning home, he forced his wife to go visit him. “She was afraid to come but it was me who forced her and this is what happened,” he said.

‘Crash up’

Speaking to the Stabroek News, a still traumatised Young recounted that the minibus suffered a blowout while on the way to Mabura and the crash occurred shortly after they replaced the tyre and returned back on the trail. By that time, they changed drivers. “We didn’t reach far and then I heard all this screaming, then is when I realised that is crash we crash up,” Young said. She recalled someone lying on her and the body of the dead man hanging through the bus window. Overcome by emotion, Young struggled as she spoke highly of her confidence in the bus driver. She said that the man was never the speeding type and she added that she was sure that he was driving at a moderate speed when the accident occurred. She had no clue what caused the collision.


Some of the persons who responded to the scene surveying the minibus, where the body of Elvis Bennett was still pinned.

Young said that it was other travelers who turned up on the scene shortly after that resulted in the quick transport of the injured to Linden. Brother of the deceased man, Earl Bennett, said that fear gripped him when news of the accident reached him as he was positive that his brother was on the ill-fated bus. He spent long hours at the Linden Hospital in the hope of seeing his brother arriving alive, but this was not to be. After hearing the description of the man who had died, he was positive that it was his brother. “He is employed at Rusal and he just decided to take a run to Mahdia and now he dead,” he said.

A man who was on scene alleged that the bus was at fault because it was in the lane of the truck and from all appearances the truck tried to evade the collision, causing the driver to careen off the road. Passengers in a pick-up, PNN 4440, who had stopped to assist the accident victims, had their fair share of thrills. According to the driver, his vehicle suffered a blowout some fifteen miles from Linden. However, the seven passengers on board only suffered minor injuries, although the vehicle toppled several times before coming to a halt.

Two days ago, there were three other accidents along the same trail. According to reliable sources, a car careened off the road into a gully at 46 Miles, Mabura, while two other turned over along the Mabura/Omai Road while negotiating a serious turn. “People ought to take their time when driving on this road especially at this time when the road is dry and dusty. These bricks are serious and can cause vehicles to skid easily,” said a concerned resident.

Stabroek News

Kaieteur News

Demerara Waves

Source

Motor cyclist, pillion rider injured in collision with stationary car
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

A 38-year-old man is in a critical condition at the Georgetown Hospital while his girlfriend is nursing a broken femur after the motor cycle they were on slammed head on into a car which was parked across Middle Road, La Penitence, early yesterday morning. Troy Thorington was four houses away from his Lot 173 Middle Road, La Penitence home when the accident occurred. He is a patient of the Intensive Care Unit and is hooked up to a life support machine after undergoing emergency surgery to repair internal damage. Doctors were forced to remove a piece of his intestines, relatives said. His girlfriend, Sydney Azore, 36, of the same address is a patient of the High Dependency Unit. The driver of the motor car is in police custody assisting with investigations.

Michelle, Thorington’s sister, told Stabroek News at the hospital yesterday she received a call from her mother around 3 am and later rushed to the medical institution. On arrival there, she recalled her brother was already in the emergency room and was slipping in and out of consciousness, while her sister-in-law was being taken out of the vehicle that brought her. She said that despite his condition, he told her that he was heading home when he spotted a car parked across the roadway. From all appearances the driver had gone to open his gate so that he could drive into the yard. According to Michelle on seeing the stationary vehicle which had no headlights, park lights or hazard lights on, her brother said he began blowing. She said he tried slowing down but still collided with the vehicle.

Based on the accounts received by this newspaper the car driver, on seeing the approaching CG motor cycle, tried waving his hands to get the attention of the motorcyclist but to no avail since the roadway was dark. Michelle told Stabroek News that Thorington tried to swerve but collided with the back of the vehicle. She said that both he and Azore were pitched from the motor cycle. Thorington landed on the roadway while Azore was found curled up between two posts located at the side of the road. The woman said that the helmet Thorington was wearing at the time of the accident was bashed in. She said that the doctor took him into theatre and later informed her that her brother had sustained serious internal injuries. She said that besides the damage to his intestines, Thorington also suffered broken bones, which would require a second operation. “The doctor said that they will try their best,” she said.

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Comprehensive policy needed to save lives on the roadways – AFC

By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

The AFC says a comprehensive road transportation policy needs to be designed and implemented in order to arrest the lawless and dangerous practices on the country’s roadways.

In a statement, executive member Gerhard Ramsaroop says the PPP government has continued to neglect road safety while “our people bleed and die needlessly on our roads,” the most recent being former NCN cameraman Ronald Livingstone.

“As if it is not enough that we lose 80% of our skilled people to migration to greener, safer pastures, the PPP Government continues to turn a blind eye to this situation that has evolved dramatically for the worse under its 20 years of rule. The Government instead, rests on its imaginary laurels, arguing the many vehicles symbolize progress, and refuses to formulate, much less implement a proper road transportation policy,” Ramsaroop said.

According to the AFC, while road accidents are a reality globally, Guyana’s situation is particularly deplorable as it does not possess a complex network of roads nor does it have extensive multilane highways but “we have a free-for-all compounded by corrupt law enforcement and corrupt drivers licence acquisition practices.”

The party says anyone with the requisite sum of $50,000 can obtain a drivers licence in Guyana today and that using the road among the many unqualified drivers who do not know the rules of the road, coupled with inadequate road demarcation and signage and poorly planned roads is hazardous.

“The Bharrat Jagdeo four-lane East Bank Highway, for example, has no storage lanes, nor adequate space for parking.” This leads to the fulltime use of the right lane, particularly by heavy-duty vehicles, though the right lane is supposed to be reserved for overtaking and turning, resulting in a dangerously uneven flow of traffic. In effect, this highway functions less efficiently than a wide two-lane road, the party said.

“The PPP managed also to reduce the efficiency of the Rupert Craig four-lane Highway by implementing a solid barrier for most of its length. Then you have the Bharrat Jagdeo Berbice Bridge that bars cyclists and cannot take machinery more than 20 tonnes,” the group said, adding that heavy-duty machines such as excavators and draglines have to be crossed by barge “which costs more than shipping a container from the US to Guyana. Can we say progress?”

Chaotic road signage, demarcations

Regarding road demarcation, not only is it inadequate and haphazard, but the paint used to do signage fades quickly, the group said, positing that metal signs would last much longer. The party also questions why “without warning” some roads become one ways and just as suddenly, revert to their original purpose, which obtains at Smyth Street between Hadfield Street and Brickdam. Bribery of law enforcement officers is also a common practice on the roadways.

The party took umbrage at Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee’s stance that only the PPP can judge him when he is in the service of the nation. “How many more will die under his baleful watch? How many more will die before the PPP does something?” it asked.

Big buses

The AFC demanded that government immediately formulates and implements a comprehensive road transportation policy that would include incentives for big buses to return to the roadways; revamping the issuing of drivers’ licences and optimizing the use of limited roadways by scheduling driving hours for lorries, garbage trucks; ensuring that roads are properly demarcated, and introducing a priority road and four-way stop system.

This must of course, be done through meaningful consultation with all stakeholders, including the business community, town councils and Customs House. The party also posits that there must be a proper road expansion plan, the drafting of which can be made easier by referring to those from the 1960s and 1970s such as the alternative East Bank route and the Del Conte Highway.

Regarding the alternative East Bank Highway, “the PPP, being true to itself, despite knowing of the plan and of provisions made for it to run through South Ruimveldt; they made no provisions through Diamond.” While this does not invalidate the plan, it increases the cost.

“The repressive and oppressive taxation system for the importation of vehicles must also be overhauled so as to encourage newer, smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles,” the party added.

Further, Ramsaroop said he reviewed the Guyana traffic situation and has published the study on his Facebook page for public viewing. It is a pdf file titled The Guyana Traffic Situation 2011 and can be downloaded from the website https://www.facebook.com/group...anceforchange/files/

 

Story in Kaieteur News: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....-of-campaign-worker/

My five part series on the traffic situation in Guyana (the articles are all unlocked so a subscription to Stabroek News is not needed):

 

The first article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/features/08/13/traffic-woes-problems-and-solutions/

The second article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...ems-and-solutions-2/

Here is the third article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...ems-and-solutions-3/

The fourth article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...ems-and-solutions-4/

 

The final article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/20...ems-and-solutions-5/

These are well thought out proposals. The PPP cannot even deal with the traffic problems. 

Thank you, JB.  Well the PPP does have other priorities such as the Marriott and Pradoville II, for example.  

 

And even when they engage in projects that are expected to help the working people they do not.  For example, the Berbice Bridge, which prohibits bicylists (school children and the poor could otherwise have ridden over).  Prohibiting pedestrians is understandable because of the long stretch of road on the Palmyra side, but that shouldn't stop them from implementing a shuttle bus which could run at a small profit. But such a shuttle system would decrease the returns for the investors in the Berbice Bridge since they would profit more from the mini-buses.

 

Well said Mr Ramsaroop. They don't have a vision. By the way, my father said your business is making a high quality product.