KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport and Mining has disclosed that it is exploring the use of a new braking device designed to assist with safety on the roads.

The device known as ‘Brake Plus’ is expected to decrease the incidence of rear-end crashes. It is placed behind the third brake light of a vehicle and becomes operational when the brake pedal is depressed, RSU explained in its daily crash report today.

“This action causes the brake light to illuminate and rapidly pulse four times within seconds thereafter remaining on a solid light for as long as the driver’s foot is on the brake pedal. In this way, the gaze of persons travelling behind such a vehicle would be drawn to the series of lights and alert them to staying at a safe distance thereby averting possible rear end collisions,” the report detailed.

RSU said the device is particularly useful in cases where drivers tend to be distracted while in the traffic environment.

Speaking at a seminar in which the product was being tested, Director of the Road Safety Unit, Kenute Hare said based on preliminary results, the product appears to hold ‘a lot of potential’ in helping to address the country’s road traffic crash rate.

He noted that with other new technologies such as black boxes in motor vehicles, the device will go a far way in helping the country to positively address behaviour modification on the roads.

Head of the Police Traffic Division, Superintendent Calvin Allen also endorsed the product based on the preliminary demonstration. He said anything that would seek to reduce the figures as they pertain to road traffic crashes would be a welcome addition to the suite of measures to arrest the country’s road traffic problems.

Rear end collisions are the most common types of road traffic crashes in Jamaica accounting for a third of all crashes, RSU reported.

It also said that since the start of the year, 75 people have been killed in 70 crashes. However, when compared to the same period last year, the figures show a 23 per cent decrease in fatal crashes and a 30 per cent reduction in road fatalities.

RSU also projected that fatalities for this year should show a 15 per cent decrease when compared to 2016.