A personal note
I write this as someone who lost my brother: John, to a road accident at a tender age. Road deaths are not statistics to the people left behind, they are empty chairs, birthdays that hurt, and prayers whispered at night.
Why the numbers matter
Guyana continues to lose too many lives on the road. Speeding, inattentive driving, drunk driving, and weak compliance turn ordinary journeys into tragedies. We need data-driven enforcement, public reporting of hotspots, and a national target to reduce road deaths each year.
Safe vehicles, safe families
Airbags save lives when they are present and functional. Yet too many imported or resold vehicles arrive with disabled or missing airbags, or warning lights that have been tampered with. Fitness checks and registration must verify:
- The airbag light cycles properly on ignition and stays off after the system check
- Front and rear seat belts are present, undamaged, and latch correctly
- No vehicle passes inspection if any of these fail
Dealers and importers should provide documentation of safety systems, and buyers should insist on it.
Seat belts save lives, enforce the law
Seat belts reduce the risk of death for front-seat occupants by nearly half according to international health bodies. The seat belt law needs consistent, visible enforcement:
- Random checkpoints on highways and in town centers
- Fines that escalate for repeat offenders
- School and media campaigns so buckling up becomes automatic for drivers and passengers
Parents, please lead by example. Children keep the habits they see.
Reckless speed, real consequences
Treat speeding as the deadly behavior it is:
- Expand speed cameras and mobile patrols on high-risk corridors
- Publish weekly enforcement summaries
- Use fine revenue for trauma care, victim support, and prevention
Bought licenses are a danger to every family
Selling or buying a driver’s license is not a shortcut, it is complicity in harm. Digitize theory tests with camera oversight, standardize road tests, and audit examiners. If someone sells or buys a license, they should lose the privilege to issue or hold one. Remember, the person that is pushed behind the wheel without proper training will be driving on the same roads that your family uses.
Five actions Guyana can take now
- No registration without proof of working airbags and seat belts: Tie fitness to a documented safety checklist, including a dashboard warning light test.
- Zero tolerance for speeding: Fixed and mobile enforcement where crash risk is highest, with swift penalties.
- Seat belt compliance for all occupants: Drivers and passengers face penalties, minibuses included.
- Clean licensing pipeline: End intermediaries, rotate examiners, and keep a tamper-proof audit trail.
- Public accountability and support: National hotline and web form for reporting license fraud, reckless driving, and unsafe imports, plus a victim support fund.
From my family to yours
Behind every road fatality is a family shattered. I know, because mine is one of them. Let us slow down, buckle up, and demand honesty in licensing and safety in vehicles. Every safe journey is a victory.
