Rural roads contribute to fatal accidents
Editorial
Stabroek News
May 20, 2004
GTU President Sydney Murdock's fiery death on the West Coast Berbice public road last March, literally, was an accident waiting to happen. The destruction of the EU Country Representative's Mercedes Benz saloon on the same public road a few days later, confirmed the serious nature of the problem on our rural roads.
The main coastal roads between Charity in the Essequibo, and Crabwood Creek on the Corentyne, serve the dual functions as major arteries of long-range transport and communication and as continuous streets, connecting communities and villages.
It is still common to see paddy being dried; farm animals being herded or, more often, simply straying; itinerant vendors hawking their goods; unescorted children going to school; and agricultural machines traversing these roads. Market day at Parika; Leonora; Mon Repos; Mahaicony; Rosignol; Rose Hall and elsewhere is an opportunity for makeshift stalls and vendors to sprawl onto the roadways, competing with vehicles for space and reducing traffic to a crawl.
Lumberyards, vehicle workshops often with derelict equipment and garbage dumps are not merely unsightly and unhealthy but are serious traffic hazards. Construction materials and equipment such as draglines used during daytime are usually parked on the roadside by night.
In addition, the surfaces of the roadways on the East and West Berbice and East and West Demerara which were admirably rehabilitated in the late 1960s started to deteriorate by the 1990s and are now in a dangerous state. Here and there, surfaces are cracked and uneven; potholes make driving hazardous. Rural roads in Guyana are usually unlit, unmarked and never far from wide canals and narrow bridges.
It is no surprise that Guyana has earned the dubious distinction of being ranked 5th among countries in the Americas for road traffic fatality rates. The countries with the highest road death rates per 100,000 in the Americas are Belize (30.1); Guadeloupe (26); El Salvador (25.2); Guatemala (22.6). Guyana (21.6) is well ahead of the average worldwide rate of 19 and the rate in developing countries of 20.2.
Poorly designed, improperly built, and badly maintained roads are contributory factors to rural road accidents. To these must be added improper use by inexperienced and unqualified drivers; by drivers who consume too much alcohol and breach speed limits; by pedestrians, farmers and vendors who ignore safety rules; and by the police who fail to enforce regulations.
Guyana can ill afford the high economic cost of road deaths and injuries which, according to PAHO, was estimated at $552.6 million in year 2000. According to PAHO, about one Guyanese is killed on the roads every 48 hours. Half of the victims are pedestrians, most of whom are working-age adults 20-54 years old and about a quarter are school-age children, 3-17 years old.
In recent years, the once ubiquitous 'Road safety Associations' which were effective watchdogs of rural road use seem to have given way to 'Community Policing Groups' which are more concerned with personal safety. The efforts of the non-governmental organisation 'Mothers in Black', which waged a vigorous campaign for official measures by the Administration to reduce road kills, appear to have had no tangible effect on public policy.
Perhaps, the Ministry of Home Affairs, with responsibility for road safety, has been preoccupied with other aspects of public safety during the recent crime wave. But, given the fact that road deaths now exceed criminal deaths, is it not time for the Minister to take action to make our rural roads safer?