-by Nakasia Logan
One of the Government’s most transformative measures to improve road safety has been its investment in technology, such as speed cameras, to improve enforcement.
Now, the Guyana Police Force says those efforts are paying off, with new data pointing to fewer serious and fatal crashes in areas where these cameras are deployed.
The Guyana Police Force Traffic Police is crediting the speed cameras under the Safe Road Intelligence System (SRIS), with helping to reduce deadly crashes.
This from Traffic Chief, Assistant Commissioner Mahendra Singh, during an exclusive interview with NCN News.
“With 30 plus 1000 tickets issued this year for speeding, particularly from the SRIS, areas where those cameras are deployed, you have seen a tremendous reduction in terms of accidents, especially fatal accidents. If there are accidents, it’s owing to the convergence of traffic, or some persons who just want to be themselves. So they drive in a manner which is careless or dangerous to other road users, and it contributes to an accident,” he said.
Authorities believe the combination of technology and enforcement is encouraging safer driving, even as speeding remains one of the leading causes of road deaths.
Other factors that lead to road deaths are inattentiveness and driving under the influence.
“At this stage we have a reduction of 23 per cent in terms of all categories of accidents. There are two less fatal accidents than last year up to this point in time. Most of the accidents that we experience are damaged or minor accidents. Almost 82 per cent of the accidents account for those,” he explained.
It was further explained that most fatal accidents occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., particularly along long stretches of roadway.
Authorities say the continued expansion of the SRIS, alongside targeted enforcement, is expected to further reduce fatal crashes and improve road safety across the country.