As the bodies pile up on Jamaica’s roads, frustrated officials are likening the busy highways to “killing fields”, saying that motorists, mainly men, recklessly push their machines to full throttle, often in a mad rush to an early grave.

Officials also point to the dwindling space for sidewalks which is creating additional risks for pedestrians who are forced onto the roadway, as well as the high cost of motor vehicle accidents on the already pressured health services.

Careless and dangerous driving have claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Jamaicans in the last five years. In 2001 alone, more than 6,000 were hospitalised, said executive director of the National Road Safety Council, Paula Fletcher.

Thirty per cent of all road fatalities were pedestrians and children made up one-third of all road deaths. “This is of grave concern to us,” Fletcher said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

Fletcher said traffic police had established that error of judgement, negligence and following too closely behind vehicles, something the Americans call tailgating, were the major causes of road accidents.

The competition between man, machine and animals for the same road space often forced human error, when quick reaction time was required. Twenty-six per cent of accidents in 2000 were caused by error in judgement or negligence.

Fletcher said human behaviour on the road was of particular concern to the Road Safety Council. “Human behaviour is top of the list. Apparent error of judgement/negligence, following too closely behind and turning without due care are all human behaviour,” she added.

Her concern is backed by further statistics from the police which show that in 2002 there were 351 fatal accidents, resulting in 388 deaths; and 323 accidents in 2003, which resulted in 358 deaths, less but still far too high a toll.

Over the period January 1-March 18, 2004, there were 63 reported deaths from 59 road accidents.

Most accidents take place in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine where the majority of the so-called black spots are located. Data provided identified 152 black spots across all 14 parishes.

Known killer spots such as the Spur Tree main road in Manchester, the Bog Walk Gorge, the Dunbeholden main road and Old Harbour Road, all in St Catherine, along with the Mandela Highway, feature prominently on the list.

But accident statistician at the Ministry of Transport and Works, Kenute Hare, insisted that black spots by themselves do not cause accidents.

“Drivers have turned the roads, especially the Mandela Highway, into a killing field,” he declared.

And even as the Road Safety Council worries about the accidents, the National Works Agency (NWA) disclosed that there was further cause for concern, as sidewalk space across the island was dwindling.

Michael Sanderson of the NWA blamed the diminishing sidewalk space on poor planning. “Where sidewalk space is concerned, just look in the Corporate Area. There are no standards for sidewalks, so anything goes,” he complained.

According to Sanderson, land owners were building anywhere, even onto the road reservation – the area designated for future road expansion. This meant that the Government would have to buy land and buildings at higher costs, in order to establish sidewalks when improvements were necessary.

Another concern mentioned by traffic officials was the inadequacy of pedestrian crossings. There are more than 4,000 pedestrian crossings in the island.

Heavily-trafficked areas like Eastwood Park Road in the Corporate Area have no controlled crossings.

Pedestrians from the neighbouring communities going to the Pavilion Mall, Central and Springs plazas, must sprint across the road, and hope not to be run down.

A major threat to pedestrian safety comes at the Half-Way-Tree hub where hundreds of persons, including primary, secondary and tertiary school students, must cross from Constant Spring Road, to await buses travelling to Spanish Town and other communities in that direction via Washington Boulevard.

“Nobody don’t want to stop to allow you to cross. They just drive so fast,” 10 year-old Tamara Richards fretted.

The little girl, who has sole charge of her younger sibling, Chad, both of whom attend a nearby primary school, said she waited until vehicles were far down the road before grabbing her brother and bolting across Eastwood Park Road, to get onto Constant Spring Road.

Like Tamara, Akeem Grey, in addition to crossing Eastwood Park Road, must also cross the busy Constant Spring Road to get to the fare station at Mandela Park.

Even for adults, the sprint remains treacherous. Wayne Allen, 41, said he had been making the cross for years, since his schooldays. It is still dangerous.

“It worse now, since puss, dog and hog a drive anything dem can find,” Allen said. “Nobody don’t care, you just have to pick yuh way across and hope say nobody don’t lick you and leave you.”

Memories of crossing are a bitter pill for Glenford Riley, 38, who was hit trying to get onto Derrymore Road from the Springs Plaza. “The man hit me and run one bright, bright evening. I was unconscious for days, with a broken foot, hand and jaw,” he said.

After being hospitalised for months, he must now take steroids. He is thankful that he can still do his “accountant job” from home.

Injured victims place a heavy burden on the island’s public hospitals. Data from the health ministry showed that between 2001 and 2002, more than 6,000 victims of road accidents were hospitalised across the island.

Hospital administrators say road accident victims accounted for more than 50 per cent of long-term occupancy in hospitals.

The majority of those dying or maimed for life are males, as less than 2,000 of the victims were females. In 2001, there were 2,395 male victims and 844 females, and in 2002, there were 2,328 males compared with 793 females.

Long convalescence periods often deny bed space needed for emergency patients.

Meanwhile, the Police Motorised Patrol Division said it was unhappy with the dangerous hobby of uptown groupies who use the roads for drag racing. An officer who asked not to be identified said angrily: “The only thing that will stop them is if several of them are killed.”

Admitting that it was a sad thing to say, he explained: “You go out there to shut down their activities and arrest them, and it’s their rich parents and lawyers who come down. So, when they kill themselves and their friends, it might stop them,” he said.

He was unapologetic.