A three-vehicle collision involving a pickup reportedly linked to the Guyana Prison Service resulted in one car overturning along the East Coast Berbice Highway on Friday night.
The driver, Theron Sampson of Sandvoort, West Canje, said he was travelling east along the highway when a motor pickup attempted to overtake another vehicle while coming from the opposite direction but was unable to return to its lane in time. This allegedly triggered a chain reaction involving a third vehicle, which overturned.
“I had to slow down to avoid a head-on,” he said, adding that continuing at normal speed “would have been a head-on thing.”
He further claimed that the pickup had already overtaken at least one vehicle before the incident occurred and briefly stopped in the roadway before continuing.
The driver also questioned why the pickup allegedly did not use its own lane to stop or pull aside safely.
“So I eventually asked him (driver of motor pickup), why, if you want to pull over in the corner, why didn’t you pull over in your lane, because your lane was vacant, as you claim that you didn’t overtake no vehicle,” he said.
Following the collision, Sampson said he exited his vehicle to check on his friend, who confirmed hearing the impact from behind. He then checked on the other vehicle that overturned during the crash sequence, which was occupied only by the driver, a 24-year-old heavy-duty mechanic.
Sampson maintains that the overtaking manoeuvre directly led to the collision involving all three vehicles.
Police later arrived on the scene, requested documentation, and escorted those involved to the station.
However, Sampson has raised concerns about how the crash scene was managed afterwards. He claimed that the roadway was cleared without proper markings or documentation of the accident layout before the vehicles were removed.
