The Safe Road Intelligent System (SRIS) has changed the rhythm of our roads almost overnight. Since April, nearly 42,000 speeding and other violations have been flagged, and President Dr. Irfaan Ali isn’t sugar-coating anything: if you owe, pay up or risk losing your licence. Media reports suggest that thousands have already settled their tickets online, and some of the more stubborn offenders have even seen their names published.
And even more technology is on the way. Smarter police vehicles, upgraded speed meters, automatic systems – the whole package. It’s clear the government is serious about tackling reckless driving, and truthfully, most Guyanese welcome that. Speeding has destroyed too many families. If these cameras prevent even one mother, father, or child from being lost, then they are worth every cent invested.
But let’s be honest with ourselves: no amount of high-tech equipment can fix a low-discipline road culture.
Anyone who walks or drives in Guyana knows exactly what that means. On any given day, you’ll see someone step into traffic without looking, as if they’re crossing their living room. You’ll see children dashing across highways. You’ll see people drifting along the edges of the road with both earbuds in, completely unaware of the minibus creeping up behind them.
And sidewalks? Sometimes they’re sidewalks, and most days they’re markets. Sometimes they’re parking lots. When they’re blocked, families with strollers, the elderly, schoolchildren – everyone – even the stray dogs, are forced off the safety of the pavement and straight into the path of oncoming traffic.
Then, of course, there are minibuses. A commuter shouts “corner!” and the driver brakes immediately, whether it’s a bus stop or not. We’ve normalised this routine for decades, even though we know it causes swerving, collisions, and near misses. It’s dangerous, yes, but somehow, it’s tradition.
And there’s another issue most people discuss only in whispers: the fact that some drivers still obtain licences without ever attending a lecture or learning the basics. If someone skips the very step where they’re supposed to learn the rules, what do we really expect once they get behind the wheel? Cameras can record their mistakes, but they can’t teach them the fundamentals they never received.
So yes, the President is right. Technology helps. It brings accountability and consistency. But technology has limits if the people using the road don’t evolve with it.
We need to rebuild the road culture we once had. Many of us grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s reciting the same safety drill every morning at school:
**Stop at the curb. Look left. Look right. Look left again. If the road is clear, cross quickly.**
Is that still being taught today? Do our children still repeat those words? And more importantly, do the adults around them practise what they preach?
Because the real problem isn’t one group. It’s all of us. Drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, vendors, commuters, we’ve all developed habits that put ourselves and others at risk. Over time, we’ve behaved as if the road will always forgive us. But roads don’t forgive. When they break, they’re fixed, unlike the hundreds of families that have lost a loved one to the carnage.
If we truly want safer streets, we need a national effort that addresses how pedestrians behave, how our sidewalks are used and managed, a total review of the licensing process, what and how children are taught about road safety, and how adults are reminded of the basics.
Cameras can help catch the problems. But they cannot fix the behaviours that cause them.
To genuinely transform our roads, we need technology, yes, but also teaching, discipline, and a willingness to break old habits. Without that, all we’ll have is high-tech footage of low-tech behaviour, and the same heartbreaking headlines repeating themselves.
Change yuh ways!
