Chairman of the Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA), Earl Jarrett, saying that the nation’s health sector spends nearly J$2 billion annually to treat traffic injuries, has appealed to motorists to act more responsibly, particularly when driving on high-speed roadways.

At the same time transport minister Mike Henry cautioned motorists that police patrol along the Highway 2000 toll road has increased.

Addressing the audience at the opening of the Jamaica Driver and Traffic Safety Expo held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, last Saturday Jarrett stated that although the road infrastructure in Jamaica had improved tremendously to allow for faster and more comfortable travel across the island, poor driving habits and skills, were transforming the highways into death traps.

“There is no question that there is a definite link between the high incidents of road crashes and stretches of smooth, well paved roadways. Therefore, we have a responsibility to ensure that we use the roads with utmost care and within the legally prescribed speed,” urged Jarrett, who is also general manager of the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS).

During the past ten years, Jamaica constructed two highways — Highway 2000, stretching from Kingston to Clarendon; and the North Coast Highway, which speeds up travel from Negril to Portland. Both have seen multiple tragic crashes.

Henry, keynote speaker at the Expo, also emphasised the need for motorists to drive responsibly on the two highways.

Making reference to a high-speed collision that occurred on Highway 2000 in 2007, Henry noted that the message that “speed skills” seemed not be reaching some motorists; hence, the need to increase police patrol of the toll roads.

“More patrol cars have been assigned to the toll highways and that has since contributed to safer use of the roads,” said Henry.

In the meantime, Jarrett emphasised that the high incidence of road fatalities was causing the country to lose vital intellectual and economic resources.

“Added to this is the immeasurable human suffering and serious economic burden that is oftentimes left on a family, when the main bread-winner is injured or dies in a traffic collision,” he said.

“Road traffic injury is a major health problem,” Jarrett remarked.

“It costs the health sector nearly $2 billion annually to treat injuries resulting from crashes, with lower and middle income countries worldwide paying out about US$65 billion.”

Although road fatalities have fallen approximately 30 per cent so far this year when compared to the same period in 2009, the incidence remains too high for comfort, Paula Fletcher, executive director of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), commented.

Fletcher said that fatalities resulting from traffic collisions are second only to murder, as the leading cause of violent and sudden deaths in Jamaica.

JNBS, better known for mortgages, has expanded into the auto industry, offering motor vehicle insurance through its subsidiary NEM Insurance and roadside assistance through the JAA.