Time for a national campaign
Editorial
THE horrible smash-up on the East Coast Demerara road Monday night in which seven persons, including a mother and her young son died, was the main topic of conversation yesterday with many agreeing that drastic measures are needed to halt the carnage. We raised the issue yesterday and it is of such great importance that we have to revisit it today. A reader e-mailed this plea yesterday afternoon: "This is a plea to all passengers, especially those of mini-buses. Please let us band together to prevent any further carnage on our roads. Please let us caution all speeding drivers in whose hands our lives rest. Let us not be afraid to ask them to slow down when they decide to use our roads as a race course. Our requests can save our families much grief." This simple, poignant appeal sums up the grief that cuts deep at times of tragedy like this latest horror on the road. Most people using the mini-buses that operate the public road transportation system are not speed fanatics - they simply want to get home, to work or wherever they are headed, safely, in comfort and in reasonable time. They are aware when they board that they are not checking into an F-16 jet fighter or the latest Concorde passenger jet to get halfway around the world in a few hours. They are generally hard-working people who do not have their own cars and have little other choice than to use the mini-buses - not the kind of people willing to risk their lives and limbs in speed chases on busy public roads. School children and young people are known to favour the fancier, faster mini-buses plying the routes, but the drivers do not have to cater to their childish fancies and if they stick to the rules by keeping to the speed limits, their passengers will just have to swallow their complaints. We do not have the answers but pleas to drivers to slow down will not be effective. Measures will have to be implemented that leave them with no choice but to stay within speed limits (are there any?) Many people were yesterday also insisting that the system of licensing drivers is too lax because far too many appear to have little knowledge of basic traffic rules and how to use the roads. In short, rank amateurs with little more than the knowledge of starting the engine and keeping the vehicle in motion are allowed on roads where the rules are many and complex. The authorities have to reassess the licensing system to weed out the abusers and the incompetent. This, however, may be only part of the problem. But, we repeat, the naked truth is that far too many people are being killed in accidents caused by speeding vehicles and mini-buses are among the primary culprits. The situation demands a comprehensive response - even if it means bringing back the `big buses' and putting these in the hands of older, experienced drivers.
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