Committee formed to examine motorcycle-related deaths
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Audrey Sewell, has welcomed the intervention of the National Road Safety Council, as concerns mount over the alarming increase in road fatalities.
The NRSC had proposed that a Motorcycle Safety Committee be established, to examine the factors relating to the high level of motorcycle-related deaths, as well as, to provide possible solutions that may be implemented with immediate effect, to stem the increase in road fatalities.
According to Sewell, Transport, Works and Housing Minister, Dr Omar Davies, has given approval for the Committee to be established. It will be chaired by the general manager, of the Jamaica Automobile Association, Duane.
The permanent secretary says there has been a 71 per cent increase in the death of motorcyclists in road crashes over the period 2014 to 2015. She says, since the start of this year, motorcycle drivers have accounted for 53 per cent of the 53 road fatalities.
Sewell argues that males outnumber females 51 to three, which is a significant impact on the country’s human resource.
She anticipates a raft of possible interventions from the newly established committee.