President calls for collective partnership to curb reckless use of the roads

Saddened by the increasing number of road fatalities, President Irfaan Ali is calling on Guyanese to take a stand against the reckless use of the country’s roadways.

In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the National Toshaos’ Conference on Monday, President Ali said he is “deeply troubled” by the increasing number of road fatalities, but he admitted that the State cannot tackle the issue alone.

“We have a collective responsibility on this issue. And we have to call a spade a spade. Parents have responsibilities too…and so, we have to deal with this as a collective, as a country,” President Ali said.

The President said it was heart wrenching to learn that eight young persons were killed in vehicular accidents over the weekend. Those killed were involved in three separate accidents.

President Ali said excessive use of speed on the country’s roadways, and drunk driving are among the leading causes of accidents in Guyana. He said those and other issues must be addressed head-on.

“We have to address drinking and driving; we have to address speeding. The number of accidents these days involving lorry is also of concern too, and our roadways are not designed for this load that they are taking off. So, as a people we have to be more cautious,” President Ali told reporters.

President Ali also spoke of the need for the Traffic Laws to be enforced across the country, so as to minimize the number of serious accidents on the country’s roadways.

“We also have to move to the enforcement of laws, demeriting system, suspension of license. We have already moved on the electronic ticketing on the new road. In one month, we had over 5,000 tickets, people are speeding. So, we have to look at this in a collective way,” the President said.

It was noted that the Acting Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken has been instructed to have the Guyana Police Force establish a robust public education and awareness campaign to promote the proper use of the roadways, in an effort to curb the road accidents.