DUI and speeding accidents
Last week, Traffic Chief Linden Isles surprised nobody – except arguably President David Granger who may be less familiar with the data on fatal traffic accidents than the rest of us. In fact he could have saved himself the trouble and the taxpayers money if he had not set up a Commission of Inquiry into a head-on collision on the East Bank road last month involving a police vehicle and a car driven by a member of the GDF. As it was there was no great mystery to be uncovered, since eyewitnesses and CCTV footage were available to the GPF on that occasion. The commission found that the accident which ended in five fatalities had been caused by excessive speeding on the part of the police.
And now the Traffic Chief has told the nation that driving under the influence, or DUI as it is known, along with speeding have been the leading causes of fatal traffic accidents this year. Traversing the roadways as they do on a daily basis, members of the public hardly need that confirmed by the Traffic Department; they can see it first-hand for themselves.
During a presentation on Christmas policing plans, Superintendent Isles also told the media that as of November 10 there had been a recorded 4% drop in accidents and a 6% decrease in deaths when compared to the same period last year. Whether that represents any kind of meaningful improvement is very debatable, since the raw figures were 87 accidents and 100 deaths last year, as opposed to 84 accidents and 94 deaths for the comparable period this year.
In addition, it should be pointed out that one or two fatal accidents may have escaped the Department’s tally. The Traffic Chief said that no deaths had been recorded thus far for the year in Regions One, Seven and Eight, although according to this newspaper’s records there have been fatal accidents in One and Seven during the period in question.
Superintendent Isles also told citizens about the most dangerous stretches of road in the Republic. That information would also not have come as too much of a surprise, since Guyana’s arterial network is very limited indeed, and certain stretches of thoroughfare lend themselves more readily to speeding than do others. Heading the list for the highest number of deaths was Eccles to Moblissa in Region Four, which recorded 25. It was followed by Region Six with 15 deaths, and then Agricola to Cummings Lodge, again in Region Four, with 13. Region Four once again made its appearance in the top four, with Industry to west of the Mahaica Bridge registering 10 deaths. Regions Two, Three, Five, Nine and Ten had below ten deaths, said the Traffic Chief.