In a fervent call for safer roads, Home Secretary Robeson Benn kicked off National Road Safety Month on Monday with the powerful theme, “Do the Right Thing.”

Addressing road safety advocates, law enforcement officials, school children and members of the public at the Leonora Track and Field Facility, West Coast Demerara, he stressed the urgent need to address the alarming statistics on road deaths caused by reckless behaviour, including speeding , driving under the influence and distracted driving.

Minister Benn revealed that 178 people lost their lives on the nation’s roads last year, a disturbing toll largely attributed to the preventable actions of drivers aged between 18 and 40.

This age group represents the country’s workforce, future leaders and often parents.

The minister made an urgent appeal for citizens to join the fight against behaviors that put so many at risk, especially young adults, who are often the most affected.

As Guyana works towards the Second United Nations (UN) Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030, with the goal of reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030, the Minister of Home Affairs called on everyone to join efforts to combat road accidents.

“By 2030, the number of people dying on our roads globally should be halved. We (Guyana) really had a difficult year last year. In the previous years — 2022 and 2021 — we managed to reduce the number of road deaths below 100 people per year. Last year was a particularly serious year; we lost 178 people to road deaths, and many of those deaths were related to motorcyclists not wearing helmets, speeding, and impaired driving. Impaired driving means that you are sometimes under the influence of alcohol or certain drugs and also driving while distracted. Some of us want to text and drive, which is also against the law,” Minister Benn explained.

“Most accidents are preventable,” Benn pointed out. With 108 road deaths recorded so far in 2024, he said that under the United Nations’ (UN) Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030, “we should only see 53 road deaths a year by 2030”.

Benn outlined some of the specific strategies implemented to reach this goal.

“Seat belt laws have been put in place. Issues related to drink driving, improving the capacity and resources of the Guyana Police Force have been put in place to improve their effectiveness, presence, awareness and responsiveness to bad behavior on the roads.”

He added: “A lot of what happens is because of bad behavior in adults. Poor examples that children see and that children reproduce for themselves and among their friends. So, that’s why we wanted to involve especially young children, school children and young adults…”

Benn urged all citizens to see road safety as a shared responsibility.

“We have to help each other; they train each other to do the right thing. It’s okay to do the right thing; it’s okay to make sure our friends, our neighbors and the country as a whole are safer and more peaceful in an effort to do the right thing,” Benn noted.

While the 2030 target may seem daunting, the minister assured the public that it is achievable with the right combination of education, enforcement and cooperation from all road users.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs, the Guyana Police and the Guyana National Road Safety Council cannot do this alone. It takes a change in culture, a change in behavior and a greater level of awareness among the population, among ourselves. Doing the right thing means rejecting bad behavior. Doing the right thing means we’d be safer in the community and the police wouldn’t have to charge people more…”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Road Safety Council of Guyana, Earle Lambert, disclosed that road accidents claim the lives of approximately 1,190,000 people worldwide every year.

“And it leaves 20 to 50 million people with non-fatal injuries. More than half of all road traffic deaths occur among vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.”

Lambert emphasized that beyond the human suffering caused by road traffic injuries, these incidents place a significant economic burden on victims and their families.

This impact, he said, includes the cost of medical treatment for the injured, as well as lost productivity for those killed or incapacitated by injuries. He added that this is not only a tragic loss of life, but also an economic setback for the country.

In Guyana, most serious accidents were found to occur on extended weekends, from Friday to Monday, and predominantly in the evening.

As National Road Safety Month unfolds, there will be an emphasis on intensifying public awareness campaigns focused on the dangers of speeding, drinking and driving, and the use of mobile phones behind the wheel.