Improve road signs and public education senior cop says
Traffic congestion in urban centres will never be brought under control if all aspects of the problem are not addressed, Superintendent Assan Thompson, head of the St Catherine North Police Division, said Wednesday.
According to Thompson only one of the three components to control congestion now gets attention.
“There are three things to traffic enforcement. There is the engineering component, the education component and the enforcement component. Most times it is the enforcement component, which is the police, that is beaten on and the other two are left alone,” Thompson told Auto.
“So you don’t business with sign marking, sign posting, public education and so forth… People don’t normally look at who is responsible for that. They normally look at the police and say that the cops are not enforcing the laws,” continued Thompson, before calling on state entities responsible for public education and municipal duties to “pull up their socks”.
Thompson’s statements were in response to allegations made by Spanish Town Mayor Andrew Wheatley, earlier this week. Wheatley accused lawmen in the town of “turning a blind eye” to persons, specifically bus operators, who violate road traffic laws.
The mayor also accused the police of allowing bus operators to stop in front of the Spanish Town Hospital to pick up passengers. A practice which often resulted in congestion at the entrance to the facility.
Thompson countered, however, saying the bus stop near the hospital entrance was legal.
“If they don’t want any stopping to take place there then it is a matter now of engineering to move the bus stop. And if the bus stop is removed, then we have to deal with educating the public, and then enforcement follows,” said Thompson.
The superintendent said police officers under his control responded to traffic problems in the division by issuing 1,054 traffic tickets, impounding 31 motor vehicles, issuing 26 summonses, and by executing seven traffic warrants.
They also seized and impounded 31 motor vehicles in the first two weeks of this month.
