KINGSTON, Jamaica—Vice-Chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), Dr Lucien Jones, has expressed shock following news of a fatal collision along the PJ Patterson Highway on Sunday, which claimed the lives of four people, including a minor.

“I just received the shocking news that early this morning, four people died on the nation’s roads. Four, one time – two women, two males, one a young child, eight years old, all under the age of 30. This is absolutely shocking and happening on one of the best roads in the country,” said Jones.

“The police report suggests that somebody was speeding, they were distracted driving, and there is an inquiry about a collision with a vehicle in a previous crash. This is our worst nightmare come true as road safety advocates,” Jones added.

A report from the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) revealed that the accident occurred about 12:30 am along PJ Patterson Highway, in the vicinity of KM5/850 eastbound, involving a grey 2002 Toyota Probox motorcar and a black 2022 Mercedes-Benz motorcar.

PSTEB said the possible causes of the collision were inattention/diverted attention, excessive speed and collision with a vehicle in a previous accident.
The NRSC vice-chairman said all hands must be on deck to reduce excessive speeding and distracted driving on the nation’s roadways.

“In this context of reported distracted driving and speeding, of the five components that make up the safe systems approach that the National Road Safety Council have been promoting – safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe road users, and an efficient post-crash system, by far the most important one that we face in this country, is producing safe road users, pedestrians who use the road carefully, and drivers who don’t speed, who are not distracted, who don’t drive under the influence of alcohol, who don’t use their cell phone and drive, who are not watching streaming videos and driving, all kinds of craziness. All hands must be on deck to stop this madness of excessive speeding, and distracted driving, and distracted walking on our roads,” Jones stated.

Ninety-two persons have died on the nation’s roadways since the start of the year, resulting from fatal collisions.

“Everybody has to be on deck with this, the entire nation, to try and put a stop to this kind of multiple-fatality crash. We continue to speak, we continue to warn, we continue to work with civil society and the government, especially with the police, to try and put an end to this. It can be done, but everybody has to be on deck to stop this kind of carnage and pain and grief that we’re all suffering this morning, on this Sunday morning,” Jones said.