A traffic accident along Madang’s North Coast Road yesterday morning (Saturday 5 March) resulted in the loss of one life. According to police, three others are fighting for theirs at the Modilon General Hospital.
According to the police report, the driver and the passengers of the vehicle were allegedly under the influence of liquor while traveling, when their vehicle veered off the road and crashed. Bystanders who witnessed the event, reported it to police and also assisted in bringing the wounded passengers and the deceased to the hospital.
Assistance Commissioner of Police (ACP) Northern Region Peter Guinness said police are investigating the matter. He said the vehicle belonged to AMRI Transport, a local company from Madang. He said police officers who were at the scene of the accident, reported that they found beer cans inside the vehicle.
ACP Guinness said drivers continue to be ignorant of traffic rules and such incidents are a result of that. These drink-driving incidents are also occurring on a daily basis. He added that despite a lot of awareness being done on drink-driving, people are still being ignorant.
ACP Guinness said the ignorance of the driver has now cost one life, and three others are fighting for theirs in hospital.
“I had stressed that a few days ago when an accident happened at Gum Primary outside Madang about drivers who drink and drive. People seem to ignore what we say. That is why there are many accidents happening. I had observed that drivers and the people in Madang are too ignorant to traffic rules. They overload their vehicles, they drink and drive, they drive around in unregistered and uninsured vehicles, they forget to fix their vehicle lights and many other things that lead to traffic accidents.”
Guinness said vehicle owners must make sure their vehicles are in running condition before they get on the road.
