We have been waiting, perhaps foolishly, to see if any of the two major political parties would publicly accept responsibility for the severing of a woman’s leg in a motor vehicle crash while involved in local government election-related activities in St Thomas last week.

News reports stated that the hapless woman was in a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) motorcade, heading in the direction of Morant Bay, following nomination day activities, when a truck in which she was travelling collided with another vehicle. A man was also hurt in the crash.

The closest the political parties have come to a mea culpa is a press statement by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for the Cedar Valley Division in St Thomas Western, Ms Sandra Anderson, who expressed sympathy for the woman.

Of course, Ms Anderson is to be commended for her statement wishing for the unfortunate victim a swift recovery and underscoring the crucial need for heightened safety precautions during the campaign period.

“Despite our political differences, let’s join hands and rally behind the injured lady. Our humanity should always prevail over partisan lines… This unfortunate incident serves as a stark reminder of the uncertainties and unexpected challenges inherent in election campaigns,” she said.

“It underscores the crucial need for heightened safety precautions to ensure the well-being and security of all participants in the political process,” the PNP candidate correctly stated.

We would like to believe that the JLP candidate for the Cedar Valley Division has expressed similar sentiments to his party’s supporter, and that he is drafting a press statement for imminent release.

But bigger picture; we expected the leadership of both parties to accept responsibility for the woman’s loss of a leg, because it occurred in pursuit of a campaign which they organised, funded, and executed, with the aim of winning the local government election.

Moreover, these motorcades are nothing new and the parties have had enough experience to put them in a position to plan for eventualities. The news reports suggested this was no run-of-the-mill crash, alleging that the vehicle was going around a corner.

Over the years, party campaign motorcades have established a reputation for reckless driving, bodies protruding dangerously from the vehicles, illegal overtaking, and other breaches of the road safety regulations that endanger or inconvenience other motorists on the road.

Little or no meaningful effort has been made by the party leadership to stop those practices. No public education has been devised or carried out. No effort has been made to exclude supporters guilty of such illegal actions.

Indeed, the great mystery is that more deadly crashes have not been reported over the many long years of these brainless political campaigns.

The people with heads and hands outside the usually speeding vehicles are mostly lured by offers of stipends or lunch money or cajoled by party toughs from garrison communities.

Where Ms Anderson falls short is in describing the incidents as “uncertainties and unexpected challenges inherent in election campaigns”. No, they are not. We see it all the time. It’s just that the party leaders couldn’t care less because the people involved are expendable.