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……and the unending fight to save other livesBy Jenelle WillabusStatistics show that nearly 1.3 million people die in road accidents each year worldwide, on average 3,287 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled without a chance of leading a normal life after. Further, more than half of all road traffic deaths occur among young adults ages 15-44 and road traffic crashes rank as the ninth leading cause of death and account for 2.2% of all deaths globally.Road crashes are also said to be the leading cause of death among young people ages 15-29, and the second leading cause of death worldwide among young people ages 5-14.Each year nearly 400,000 people under 25 die on the world’s roads, on average over 1,000 a day.On Guyana’s roadways it is no different. Apart from the deaths, many victims are left bedridden, crippled or with scars they will take to their grave. While well publicized efforts are being made to reduce the fatality figures through the setting up of organizations and committees, there are some individuals that have been driving forces in the relentless fight against the lawlessness and recklessness that pervades on our thoroughfaresAs the saying goes ‘Who feels it knows it”, and this is definitely the case for Mrs. Lucille Bacchus. Almost 17 years ago, Mrs. Bacchus lost her only two children as a result of a horrific road accident. And after all these years, this road safety advocate still sheds tears when talking about that sad day which she sometimes wishes was just a bad dream.On November 16th 1996, Wallie’s life ended at the age of 17, while 10 days later his 16-year-old sister, Fareena, succumbed to her injuries.Recollecting the events of that fateful day, Mrs. Bacchus said her children had gone to a friend’s residence in Enmore, East Coast Demerara, to collect a book, and were returning to their Lusignan home, when the driver of a speeding car overtook a parked vehicle and sideswiped two persons on a motorcycle, before hitting them and toppling three times, careening off the southern side of the road. Wallie and Fareena were also on a motorcycle.Mrs. Bacchus explained that at the time of the accident, which occurred at approximately 08:40 hours, she had just closed the family shop and was about to relax when a neighbour approached her and enquired of the whereabouts of her children. She responded that they would return shortly.“If someone had told me that my children would not return home I would have never let them out of the house” the emotional mom said, as she removed her spectacles to wipe away tears.Mrs. Bacchus at a recent pedestrian crossing painting exercise.Wallie, she explained was fully conscious when she visited him at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital, and had even recounted the entire tragedy for his mother, but shocked everyone when he succumbed at around 14:30 hrs the same day.According to the post mortem report, the teenager died of multiple internal injuries, which included a broken pelvis, damaged liver and spleen and severed intestines.His mom still clung to hope that maybe she would still be able to take home Fareena, who had been unconscious from the time she was thrown from the motorcycle. But this was not to be. Fareena died from kidney failure on November 26, two days after undergoing brain surgery in Trinidad.While for Mrs. Bacchus it is her belief that no amount of money in the world can bring back her children, she noted that at no time during her grieving did the person responsible for the accident visit or “offer even a bottle of water” to her family.“I would not have accepted any monetary compensation for my children’s life. A kind gesture from the person responsible would have helped in the grieving process,” she said.Unlike many relatives of accident victims Mrs. Bacchus did not allow frustration to get to her as she spent years trying to ensure that the individual responsible for her children’s death was brought to justice. And although the sentence which the man received was not even considered punishment, Mrs. Bacchus used her loss as a driving force to help many others who have experienced similar circumstances.Speaking of some the challenges she endured while struggling for justice for her children, Mrs. Bacchus said shortly after her children’s death, because of depression she and her husband suffered, they were forced to close down their shop and everything took a heavy toll on their marriage.The woman, who now reaches out to giving families and who promotes road safety, also spoke of attending court for two “gruelling” years and her active involvement.Hoping that she could have assisted the police with “gathering other antecedents which may have helped nail the driver”, Mrs. Bacchus also travelled to Corentyne, Berbice, and had collected all the details pertaining to another serious traffic offence with which the man had been charged, but she was informed that the police could not use those facts since that matter had been settled out of court.According to Bacchus the driver of the vehicle, who it was concluded had been drunk at the time of the accident, was released after spending only 16 months of a three-year sentence imposed on him on January 21, 1999.Mrs. Bacchus realized that she needed to use her grief and turn it into something positive. And she did just that.Being a founding member of the Mothers In Black Organization and member of the Guyana National Road Safety Council, she has over the years made significant contributions towards the implementation of strategies to help minimize road carnage.Mothers in Black, through Mrs. Bacchus and Mrs. Denise Dias, among other hardworking members, have been able to render support to the families of accident victims in more ways than one. From moral support, to being a listening ear at nights, to walking up the Magistrates’ Court’s steps, Mrs. Bacchus has given herself totally over to fighting for a cause. While she strongly believes in the fact that money can never pay for lives that have been snuffed out because of a reckless driver, she says she sometimes understands the plight of victims.“For me I would never accept any out-of-court settlement for the lives of my children… which I didn’t do, but there are instances where the person who was killed was the sole breadwinner of the home and now that family is left in a situation where they have no choice but to collect whatever little is being offered to them.”Nonetheless, she said she will continue to encourage bereaved families to let the law take its course, despite the fact that the judicial system can sometimes cause one to become frustrated.“Families have to play their part and make an effort to attend every court case and be present to give evidence whenever the matter is called and not shy away from facing these killers in court”.Also, being a part of the National Road Safety Council, Mrs. Bacchus has been able to be a driving force behind the implementation of the breathalyzer test and radar guns which are now being used by traffic ranks of the Guyana Police Force. However, she still feels that more can be done in terms of dealing with some of the root causes of road fatalities.She feels that there needs to be a review of the current system being used to issue persons with driver’s licences, as well as the fact that the focus should be placed on drinking spots which are often filled, with cars parked in close proximity. Bacchus said that persons at drinking spots are highly likely to be the very ones behind the steering wheels when the heart rending headlines are made.“At every single drinking spot, on any given night, you can find persons consuming large amounts of alcohol and then shortly after heading into vehicles not only as passengers, but as drivers, heading to various destinations.”Having lost her children to a drunken driver, this is a burning issue on which she has very strong views. Further she stresses that she does not feel the current penalties are sufficient for persons found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. Though not wanting to elaborate much on this touchy issue, Mrs. Bacchus opined that heavier penalties should be implemented to deal with errant drivers. In addition, she said while a lot is being said of a person who dies as a result of a road accident, very little is said of a person who is left crippled for life or one who survived but whose life has been changed forever.“Think about it, what about the woman who may not be able to make another child, or the man who is left bedridden and a burden to his family.”Nonetheless, through the various organizations to which she has aligned herself, Mrs. Bacchus insists she and colleagues will continue to do whatever is required of them to ensure road safety in Guyana is kept alive and taken to all corners. To this end, candlelight vigils are often held by Mothers in Black to celebrate the lives of accident victims and to raise awareness.Also, through the Guyana National Road Safety Council, the message of road safety is taken to schools throughout the length and breadth of Guyana. In addition, the Council continues to assist the Police Force’s Traffic Department with the painting and placement of road signs around the country.Though no one person or organization can ever really help get the message across to everyone about road safety and the widespread effects of road fatalities,Jerseys NFL Cheap, Mrs. Bacchus says she will remain resolute in her passion to promote same.“If there is something you can do as a person to prevent a road accident I urge you to do it. It might seem ‘uncool’ to take away the keys of a vehicle from a drunken person, but think about the life you would have saved.“Think about the woman who would have never made it home to her family to prepare dinner, or the father who would have never made it home to his family who are left without a breadwinner… that young boy who was waiting for his exam results, all excited to attend a new school or that little girl who may never attend her high school prom as my daughter never got the chance to do. These are all incentives for us to care.”