KINGSTON, Jamaica — With 23 people killed in 17 fatal crashes since the start of 2022, vice chairman of the Road Safety Council Dr Lucien Jones, is renewing calls for road users to exercise greater caution on the nation’s roads.

According to data from the Road Safety Unit, pedestrians account for 22 per cent of road users killed; private motor-vehicle drivers, 26 per cent; private motor-vehicle passengers, 13 per cent; motorcyclists, 13 per cent; pillion passengers nine per cent; commercial motor-vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle passengers, four per cent; public passenger-vehicle drivers four per cent; and public-passenger vehicle users four per cent.

Vulnerable road users (pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclists, and pillion passengers) account for 43 per cent of fatalities, while passengers account for 30 per cent of road users killed since the start of the year. Males account for 87 per cent and females 13 per cent of these fatalities.

The number of fatal crashes has decreased by 11 per cent while fatalities have increased by five per cent when compared with the same period in 2021. Of this number, three fatalities and two fatal crashes have occurred during curfew hours, accounting for 13 per cent of road fatalities to date.

Noting that 482 people died in road fatalities in 2021, Dr Jones, in a release, said the Council is seeking to reduce this number in accordance with the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 to 2030. He urged all road users to exercise greater caution on the motorways.

“The grief and pain associated with road fatalities is just overwhelming the country,” he said. ““Our goal has been consistent with the goal of the United Nations. There is now a second decade of road safety, and the goal is to reduce by half by 2030 the number of people who are dying on the world’s roads. We are in partnership with them, and we are looking forward to decreasing our road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030,” he said.