Some motorists, passengers still not buckling up
--- Long Creek crash survivors say seat belts saved them
by Shirwin Campbell
Guyana Chronicle
July 4, 2003
SOME motorists and passengers of motor vehicles are still reluctant to wear their seat belts, in spite of a six-month grace period, an increase in fatal accidents and a number of them being brought before the Courts.
Guyana Chronicle did a check around the city and observed that while the majority wore seat belts, a small percentage did not. Most passengers in the front seats of mini buses who were on ‘short drops’ did not bother to utilize the safety devise.
It was also observed that some of the seat belts in buses appear intact at first glance, but some had no anchor to latch onto and wire or a metal bit protruding from the edge of the middle seat was the alternative that passengers had to use to buckle the strap.
Others had cement straps to substitute the original seat belts. A check at Auto Stores revealed that there is no shortage of seat belts and dealers said that sales are slow.
The general explanation by defaulting drivers is that they are accustomed to driving for years without buckling up and they are not quite adjusted to this new requirement. But the Traffic Department is currently conducting a campaign to ensure that drivers and passengers buckle up.
According to the Traffic Department more than 200 persons have been charged for failing to use their seat belts since the traffic department aggressively began its campaign to prosecute drivers who fail to comply with the seat belt law.
Commissioner of Police Floyd Mc Donald was recently quoted as saying that “Research has shown that persons involved in accidents who were not wearing seatbelts are more likely to be injured.”
After a careful review of a number of accidents that occurred during the last two weeks it was observed that individuals wearing their seat belts survived while those not wearing suffered severe injuries or lost their lives.
Last Tuesday, a Nissan Sunny the property of R K ’s Security transporting two employees attempted to overtake a minibus at the Farm/Herstelling Junction when it entered into the lane of a ten-ton Bedford truck coming in the opposite direction.
The driver of the car tried to swerve back into his lane but slammed into the truck. The truck slammed into a culvert and as a result of the impact the driver catapulted through the windscreen, sustaining injuries about his body, while the porter in the truck was restrained by the seat belt.
After the accident the employees of R K ’s and the porter of the truck informed the media that they owed their lives to the seatbelts. The driver was not using his seatbelt when the accident occurred.
Last Monday a mini bus travelling along the Linden Soesdyke Highway, plunged into a ravine after the driver lost control on the highway’s bridge.
All in the front seat, including the driver and two passengers, survived the crash. Their survival was attributed to the seat belts they were wearing. Three others died as a result of the accident.
May 2002 the Motor vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2002 was passed in Parliament. The Act describes ‘seat belt’ as any arrangement or assembly of straps with a security buckle, adjusting devices and attachments anchored to the motor vehicle in accordance with section 45A (7) and is designed to diminish the risk of injury to its wearer in the event of a collision or abrupt deceleration of the vehicle by limiting body movement of the wearer.
The penalty for first offenders is $7,500 and no less than $10 000 and in the case of a second or subsequent offence a fine of $10 000 and no more than $15 000.
A driver who conveys a child and fails to ensure that the child wears a seat belt or is conveyed in a child restraining system, if found guilty will have to pay a fine not exceeding $10 000. The campaign continues.