With errant drivers being blamed for fatal accidents, acting Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken has warned that the prevailing “traffic lawlessness” would not be allowed to continue.
He has also upbraided traffic ranks for their lapses and underperformance in executing their duties, warning that “there will be consequences for those who are underperforming”.
Last Friday, the Top Cop along with Deputy Commissioner of Police ‘Administration’ Calvin Brutus and Deputy Commissioner ‘Operations’ Ravindradat Budhram summoned a meeting with all of the Police Force’s regional traffic officers, including the Traffic Chief, to set the pace and iron out issues that are hampering the effectiveness of the traffic departments countrywide.
The meeting, which was held in the Top Cop’s Conference Room at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown comes on the heels of the recent increase in fatal accidents, which as of the past two months, has seen 15 road deaths being recorded thus far for 2023.
There has been a slight increase in the number of deaths.
Moving forward, Hicken passed instructions to improve traffic management across the country. These include traffic ranks must be stretched along the road corridors in order to slow down vehicles as a preventative method to curb speeding, enforcement of traffic laws must be done by day and by night, stopping motorists and asking for documents must be ceased unless the operation is being supervised by an officer or an inspector and traffic Police ranks should not be seen talking on their mobile phones while directing traffic.
Along these lines, the acting Police Commissioner encouraged the Police officer to use the Force’s resources (vehicles and bikes) when executing their duties. He urged them to “take the bull by its horn” to curb road fatalities and lawlessness on the roadways. Prior to concluding the meeting, the Top Cop initiated the rotation of several of the traffic officers.
This move by the Top Cop is to ensure that all traffic officers remain active and up-to-date with the Force’s traffic department operations. Hicken, in closing, emphasised that “we must get this fixed”, indicating that “no haphazard behaviour” would be tolerated.
Tougher penalties
Last year, amendments were passed to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act to toughen up the penalties for those who cause the death of another person by driving under the influence, by introducing the offence of vehicular manslaughter. “Any person who causes the death of another person by the driving of a motor vehicle on the road or other public place while under the influence of drink or a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle shall be guilty of motor manslaughter and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years,” reads Section 35A of the Act.
The amended Act also puts a three-year ban on persons convicted under it, from obtaining or holding a driver’s licence after their release from prison.
A second conviction of a similar offence, the Act states, will lead to the person being permanently disqualified. During the court process, the suspect will also be required to surrender their licence – failure of which will result in a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for three months.
Moreover, pursuant to Section 39A of the statute – the penalty for driving over the alcohol limit has moved from a fine of $7500 to $200,000 and the sentence from 12 months to 24 months.
The penalty for driving under the influence and losing control of your vehicle has been increased from $30,000 to $60,000 fine/imprisonment for 12 months, to $200,000 for first-time offenders, and $300,000 for second-time offenders. Section 39G also amends the Principal Act’s description of the prescribed alcohol limit. As a result of this amendment, the prescribed limit now means breath alcohol concentration of 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath or blood alcohol concentration means 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
Amendments to the Intoxicating Liquor Licencing Act, have imposed heavy fines on liquor establishments for selling alcohol to persons who are already intoxicated and then going driving.
In addition, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, while addressing the National Assembly, had noted the causal relationship between drunk driving and the high number of road fatalities, dubbing the amendments as a timely law-making intervention to address a “chronic” problem.
Campaigns
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) is continuing its countrywide campaigns aimed at encouraging drivers to practise safe road use. At such campaigns, drivers are lectured on the road safety theme “Arrive Alive, Stop Speeding, Don’t Drink & Drive”; obeying traffic officers, signs and functions of the traffic light; adherence to the speed limits, and maintenance of motor vehicles.
They are advised against using handheld devices while driving and driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Drivers are also advised to ensure that their driver’s licence and other documents are up to date before using a motor vehicle. Police statistics show that driving under the influence of alcohol and excessive speeding are the leading causes of accidents in Guyana.
