| – an inside look at the minibus culture“I remember one time when I de tell a driver turn down the music. He put on ah cussin’ pon me. Plus the man de drinking beer. That’s why I don’t seh anything, because me nah able with embarrassment…” – female passengerBy Rehana Ashley AhamadIt’s no secret that vehicular accidents are one of the leading causes of death in Guyana. And everybody knows that most of it is attributed to speeding and/or reckless driving.When they occur, one has to wonder: what were the passengers doing? Did they not realise how fast the vehicle was going? Why didn’t they object to the speeding and reprimand the driver? In most cases, after the damage is done and lives are lost, survivors would lament-”If only I de tell he fuh slow down…”But then reality hits, and people realise that the most important things in life does not exactly come with a “second chance guarantee.”Passengers aside, I was also curious as to why drivers, particularly minibus operators, resort to speeding in the first place. To find this answer, I chatted with drivers and passengers from various routes.To their benefit, there are indeed some safe drivers, while there are some commendably vigilant and objective passengers.But I was shocked at the way some of them think. Especially the ones who don’t mind driving while under the influence of alcohol.Drivers admit to drinking and driving, speedingSpeaking with the bus drivers was a real eye-opener for me, when at least five drivers admitted to drinking while driving.Here is a preview of one of my very “enlightening” conversations with a Route 42 minibus driver.Me: Driver, you does work all day, every day?Driver: Yeah baby girl. And it ain’t easy, we got to mek de dollars, yuh know?Me: Yep! I know…but what about weekends and so? You don’t go tek a li’l drink and ease the stress?Driver: Girl, wah I gon tell yuh, I does wuk all through the weekends.Me: Suh wait, you don’t ever get time to go out and have fun and suh?Driver: Nah really yuh know…but hear, I does tek me li’l “tux” on the park.Me: Nice! But you don’t be scared that the police gon catch yuh drinking?Driver: Hah, well yuh see this life here honey, you got to know people, or people got to know you…yuh understand de thing?Me: Yeah man, I get it…but you don’t frighten fuh drink and drive? Suppose you get into an accident and people die and so…?Driver: Sweetheart, such is life. All kind thing does happen. People gon die in this world anyhow.Me: So wait, you ain’t care that you might probably be high enough to cause an accident that could kill you, and other people?Driver: Is why you getting so angry? I could drink any amount of rum and not feel high…I is nah one ah them stupid ones who does get drunk quick. Dah ain’t a problem.You ain’t gah fuh watch me like duh, If people like ya’ll ain’t want travel, I gon still survive. I get into nuff accidents already, but nobody neva die…I deh good, good.I honestly couldn’t take the nonsense emanating from that man’s mouth, so angrily, I exited the front seat, not hesitating to slam the door.I was sickened by that driver’s comments to the extent that I even asked a friend of mine, who is a police officer, to keep a watch on him.Some other drivers related that the loud music and speed somewhat go “hand-in-hand”.“Music does give yuh motivation, and then when you speed, the wuk don’t really feel tiring. Is the excitement of it does keep me going; nothing ain’t wrong with dah,” one Route 45 minibus operator said.Passengers scared of being “cussed out”As far as commuters go, the excuses that they gave for not objecting to recklessness forced me to conclude that Guyanese are cowards.Most passengers confided that the main reason for them keeping mum while minibus operators break the law, is the fear of being embarrassed, and insulted by drivers and conductors.“Leh meh tell yuh something young lady, me is a woman don’t get in trouble, and me don’t cuss and them things…but I remember one time when I de tell a driver fuh turn down the music. He put on ah cussin’ pon me. If yuh hear things wah this man had to say about me and me dry-up self and suh. Dah wasn’t nice. He cuss me up about race and religion and all them things…plus the man de drinking beer. You could believe that the people in the bus de watching me like I wrong. That’s why I don’t seh anything, because me…me nah able with embarrassment,” Mrs. Hafeez of Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara said.The woman explained that in some cases, she would keep her fingers crossed and pray that she and her five-year-old granddaughter, with whom she travels every day, reach home safely.“Most time dem does speed, but sometimes…it does get dangerous. Like it lef yuh holding yuh heart, hoping that yuh reach home alive…honestly, I tell yuh,” Mrs. Hafeez added.‘Late for work’A Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara resident who gave her name as “Manda” believes that “none ah them buses in this country does speed more than the Soesdyke buses”.She said that sometimes, when the speeding gets “ridiculous”, she would voice her opinion. But that’s not always, since the young lady admitted that she is always late for work.“Girl, wah I gon tell yuh…yes! I do ask them to slow down and be careful and so…but nah always, because you see, I live far, and it does be hard to get buses, and when yuh finally get one, sometimes yuh does be hoping that dem speed, so that yuh reach to wuk early,” Manda said.She added that the “regular” speed for the Soesdyke buses would be approximately 120 to 140 kilometers per hour, with no objections from passengers.“Dah route does get nuff accidents and everybody knows how dangerous speeding is…but still, me included, we don’t object. I does even feel bad that I don’t, but wah yuh gon do, people got to die someday,DJ LeMahieu Rockies Jersey, somehow,” ‘Manda’ added.And she is not alone. Many others share the same view, except for those who had near-death experiences, and/or lost people they loved, in a road accident.Following accidents, I’ve always heard people lament- “If only I de say something to dah driver.”Remember the infamous Homestretch Avenue accident that took the lives of five persons, including that of a child? Bodies were crushed. Their broken parts scattered on the road. It was indeed a horrific scene; carnage is what many described it as.The driver walked away with one or two scratches while almost everyone else in the bus was hospitalized.The driver was speeding when he suffered a blow-out. This resulted in the bus toppling several times before it came to a halt.Maybe like Ms. “Manda”, those passengers too were late for some very important event.They might have been others like Mrs. Hafeez who so terribly feared insults from minibus operators, chose not to say anything.The survivors of that accident, and the loved ones of those who perished in it also wished that someone had the courage to say something to the driver.Mothers in Black member, Doris Shelto-Mc Lennon, lost her son Peter Mc Lennon in that crash.Ever since then, the woman has been on a mission to encourage passengers to speak up against delinquent drivers.Her advice is- “If not for you, do it for your loved ones”.“I can’t even imagine big, big people does sit in speeding buses with their children, and not say anything about it. Think about the life that they got ahead of them,” Ms. Mc Shelto-Mc Lennon said.She stressed that it is the duty of passengers to ensure their own safety.“You have to look out for your own self…speak up against speeding…and drinking and driving. We need to take a stand. Innocent people dying just like that, it’s not fair. All it takes is a warning to the driver…or two warnings. You should even come out of the bus if they don’t listen. It’s always better getting to a place late than never, like it is being safe than sorry,” Mc Lennon advised. |
