Reckless road use a ‘worrying trend’, says Road Safety Unit
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Road Safety Unit says that the reckless use of the nation’s roadways have resulted in 332 deaths since the start of the year.
It said that this “worrying trend” continues to be a negative aspect of the nation’s landscape, lamenting that the overriding cause of these deaths has been the reckless use of the roadways.
A breakdown of the statistics from the unit revealed that excessive speeding; drivers failing to keep left and pedestrian error were the main causes of fatal crashes.
Of the 332 people who have died, 285 were males and 47 were females.
A further breakdown of the figures shows that 69 were pedestrians, 21 were pedal cyclists, 88 were motorcyclists, 14 pillion, nine public passenger vehicle passengers, 49 private motor vehicle passengers, nine commercial motor vehicle passengers, eight drivers of public passenger vehicles, 58 were private motor vehicle drivers, five commercial motor vehicle drivers while the other two were unidentified categories of road users.
The parishes of Westmoreland, St Andrew and St Catherine account for 44 per cent of road fatalities thus far.
Director of the Road Safety Unit, Kenute Hare again urged road users to take road safety more seriously.
Noting that the majority of our road crashes are related to bad driving practices, he lamented the fact that the data is highlighting one death per day attributable to the effects of road crashes. Hare said that drivers and pedestrians alike must adopt positive road habits as they traverse the traffic environment.
“Road fatalities are not just statistics, these deaths cause a great deal of suffering for the people who have lost a loved one or who are left with a permanent injury. The wanton disregard for the rules is crippling the country” he lamented.
The director further noted that the unit will be intensifying its road safety education programme in schools and communities with a view to promoting proper road etiquette.
The unit reiterated the call for motorists to look out for cyclists and pedestrians who may be obscured by other vehicles while they are on the roads.
