SALEM, St Ann — Bus driver Kermit “Jerry” Grant, one of two people who died in a horrific traffic crash that left more than 20 people injured on Sunday, was known for speeding but had reportedly slowed down on the roads recently.

“I heard he cut his speed; he used to be [a fast driver], but I heard he’s not driving so fast again… I heard he kind of cut down now,” his sister Natalie Grant-Johnson told the Jamaica Observer.

She was responding to speculation, based on the extent of damage to both vehicles, that speeding appeared to have been a factor in the crash. Pictures and video footage show the front-end of both vehicles demolished by the impact.

A grief-stricken Grant-Johnson appealed to other road users to be careful.

“Please, take time drive… it’s not nice to know that you leave you house and then only to hear a bad news that you crash and die… So road users just be careful on the road and take time drive,” she pleaded.

The second fatality from Sunday’s crash was Grant’s passenger, 56-year-old Elizabeth Palmer, while 14 others were seriously injured.

Grant was behind the wheel of a 15-seater Toyota Hiace minibus that collided with a 30-seater Coaster bus. The crash occurred shortly after 9:00 am on roads wet from a slight drizzle.

Grant, father of a boy and a girl, would have turned 39 on August 1. His relatives are now left to grieve a man whom his sister said was reserved, unlike the rest of his talkative family members. Grant-Johnson said the family is receiving comfort from friends and neighbours.

Since the start of the year 270 deaths have occurred on the nation’s roads.