-rollout expected within a week

The government has procured and delivered approximately 8,000 speed limiters for trucks as part of ongoing measures to curb speeding and improve road safety across Guyana.

The Traffic Chief, Mahindra Singh, made the announcement during a recent interview on the Starting Point podcast, where he noted that the devices are already in the possession of the Guyana Police Force, while training is underway for personnel who will be responsible for their installation.

“The auto control devices, speed limiters, they were already procured and delivered to us. It is in our possession,” Singh said.

Singh explained that the actual installation training is expected to begin shortly, following certification of personnels on the installation of the devices,  on goods transportation vehicles.

“The actual installation training will commence in about a week’s time and when that is concluded those certified trainers will install those devices,” the Traffic Chief said.

Singh noted that while the installation process itself is not lengthy, emphasis is being placed on ensuring that personnel are properly and competently trained to install the devices.

Moreover, he explained that the speed limiters are designed to prevent trucks from exceeding a prescribed speed by controlling the vehicle’s throttle and accelerator.

“If the set speed is 80 kilometres, that’s the maximum speed at which the lorry will travel when laden with weight. That is allowed by law,” Singh said.

The Traffic Chief said the regulatory framework will also provide for the proper maintenance of the devices and penalties where they are tampered with.

He further explained that once installed, each device will have to be certified as properly installed and functioning before the vehicle receives its certificate of fitness.

“There will be two levels of certification. One when installed there is a speed compliance certificate that has to be issued to certify that it’s competently installed and functioning before you get that certificate of fitness,” Singh said.

Singh also expressed support for eventually extending the use of speed-control technology to public transportation, noting that public transportation is an important part of road safety.

“Public transportation is not excluded from the equation of road safety,” he said, adding that the technology would “build in safety into the system.”