KINGSTON, Jamaica — Vice Chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), Dr Lucien Jones, has issued a warning following a grim start to the four-day holiday weekend, with three lives already lost in road crashes.

“The police report this morning is very sobering,” Dr Jones said Friday. “Three persons have died on the first day of the four-day-long holiday. Three persons already, and we have only gone one day out of the four.”

Two men died on Good Friday in a multi-vehicle collision on the Braco main road in Trelawny. They were reportedly a part of a group of four individuals riding ATVs when they came into contact with a tractor-trailer that veered off the roadway.

READ: Two dead in Good Friday crash in Trelawny

A third fatality occurred in a separate single-vehicle crash in St Ann, claiming the life of a male driver.

“Young people — one just over 30, two under 30,” Jones noted. The police have not yet identified the deceased.

While fatalities have seen a slight decrease this year, the vice chairman pointed to concerning injury data presented at a recent meeting with the prime minister. He revealed that injury figures from 2023 showed a nearly 20 per cent increase over 2022.

“That is sobering, because it means that we’re really not getting a handle on the number of people who have been injured and what it has been costing the country and costing individuals and costing communities,” he said.

Seatbelt and helmet usage remain critical issues. Dr Jones cited recent data indicating that nearly 60 per cent of men and 65 per cent of women injured in crashes were not wearing safety devices. “This is very alarming and a matter which needs to be fixed and fixed urgently,” he stressed.

Dr Jones also highlighted alcohol use as a factor in many collisions. Ten per cent of injured individuals were confirmed to have consumed alcohol, and in 25 per cent of cases, alcohol use was unknown.

In light of these issues, he welcomed the recent acquisition of breathalysers for the police, made possible through funds from the United Nations Road Safety Fund and support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

“It is a very welcome one indeed. And hopefully, the efficiency of the breathalyser system and the amount of people we can have with it will increase and lead to a decrease in the number of people who are dying and are being injured on our roads,” Jones said.

He urged Jamaicans to take caution over the remainder of the holiday. “We need to warn our people that the weekend has three more days to come. We don’t want any more injuries. And we certainly don’t want any more deaths.”

So far, 110 people have died in traffic crashes since the start of the year.