STUDENTS from Stella Maris Preparatory, Corinaldi Avenue Primary and Wolmer’s Girls’ walked away with top prizes in the National Road Safety Council’s (NRSC) poster competition awards ceremony held at Knutsford Court Hotel on June 5.

A total of 28 students out of 53 entries were recognised for their artistic work on road safety during this year’s competition, held under the theme Pedestrian safety: Our responsibility.

In category one (six to nine years), Taeija Lee Hall Watts of Stella Maris walked away with the champion trophy while Rachelle Armstrong of Sts Peter and Paul Preparatory took second place, and Kay Lee Williams of Mona Heights Primary won third place.

In category two (10 to 14 years) the champion trophy was awarded to Michael Gunn of Corinaldi Avenue Primary, while Yashwah Ranger of Old Harbour High walked away with second prize, and David Salmon of Wolmer’s, third.

In category three (15 to 19 years) Mishawn Chin See, a second-time winner of Wolmer’s, won the champion trophy. Micah Goldsmith of Ardenne High placed second and Sabrina Brown of Merl Grove High, third.

Nineteen participants were awarded merit certificates this year and two received honourable mention.

Entries in the poster competition were judged based on their adherence to the theme; creativity; presentation and style. In her remarks, Paula Fletcher, chief judge and executive director at the NRSC, said there were noticeable improvements in the standard of entries to this year’s competition.

Addressing the ceremony, State Minister for Health Luther Buchanan noted the continued burden the cost of road crashes was placing on the health sector and encouraged more young people to get involved in the efforts to reduce the number of crashes on the nation’s roads. “Accidents and intentional injuries account for a large portion of persons that we see at our hospitals. This puts a strain on the capacity of our doctors to deliver care effectively. One accident can result in hours of surgery and tie up a doctor and an operating theatre for hours, reducing care to others in need, and contributing to overcrowding and long waiting times in our accident and emergency units. We continuously have to postpone non-emergency cases to facilitate victims of crashes,” he said.

Vice Chairman of the NRSC Dr Lucien Jones said the continued high numbers of pedestrians involved in road crashes was a worrying trend. Of the 138 persons killed on the roads from January 1 to June 4, 45 were pedestrians and seven were children. He further indicated that the council was continuing its work with various partners to greatly reduce the number of fatal crashes.

Taeija Lee Hall Watts, first-place winner in category one, collects his trophy from Luther Buchanan (right), state minister with responsibility for health while Dr Lucien Jones, vice chairman of the NRSC looks on.

Michael Gunn, first-place winner of category two, collects his trophy from Luther Buchanan (right) while Dr Lucien Jones looks on.

Mishawn Chin-See, first-place winner of category three, collects her trophy from Luther Buchanan while Dr Lucien Jones (right) looks on.