THE results of a road safety survey that should further guide the country’s efforts to protect travellers and save lives will likely be ready by next month, according to Island Traffic Authority (ITA) officials.

“We’re a far way into the road network safety assessment… I think we’re on a timeline for about June to get final deliverables, which are the star ratings for each roadway by road user type,” ITA’s Director of Road Safety Dr Sharma Campbell told reporters and editors at last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

Island Traffic Authority’s Director of Road Safety Dr Sharma Campbell told last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that each road in the assessment will receive a star rating, which will be used to develop a safety investment plan to reduce road fatalities. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)

At the time she spoke, Dr Campbell said she had a meeting scheduled for the following day at which she expected to receive preliminary results of the survey funded by Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

The assessment is being conducted on approximately 1,000 kilometres of major thoroughfare across the island, using the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) methodology, ITA Director General Colonel Daniel Pryce shared.

Island Traffic Authority Director General Colonel Daniel Pryce sharing at last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that the road network assessment data is now being processed and the findings and recommendations are being developed.

He said the assessment was carried out by [an] iRAP-certified consultant from Mexico in December 2024, and “currently, the data… is being processed and the findings and recommendations are being developed”.

Dr Campbell explained that each road in the assessment will receive a star rating, which will be used to develop a safety investment plan to reduce road fatalities.

“The Safer Roads Investment Plan will identify countermeasures for the network that has been surveyed and put an estimate for, and a prioritisation on, improving the conditions of those roads,” she said.

According to Dr Campbell, the survey identifies the top hazards on the roads, among them the surface condition, the position of infrastructure such as utility poles — things that would cause the most injury in the event of a crash.

“It’s based on the safe system approach, so they use the design of the road and the speed of the road,” she said, adding that traffic count and other information relating to vehicular movement are provided to the researchers.

“So they’ll process that and see the user types… it’s based on infrastructure mostly, and then the surrounding environment,” she added.

The assessment, which was launched last December, was originally scheduled for completion by January 1, 2025. It is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport’s Road Safety Branch, in collaboration with the National Works Agency and Mexicanos de Ingeniería Civil SA de CV, which is conducting the surveys as part of the assessment.

Funding of US$300,000 was provided by CDB for technical assistance.

Data from the ITA show that the top five crash hot spots in Jamaica over the last five years are the Rose Hall main road in St James; the Old Harbour main road and Nelson Mandela Highway in St Catherine; Bustamante Highway in Clarendon; and Spanish Town Road in Kingston and St Andrew.

At the launch of the project Pryce had stated that other roads have seen frequent crashes and fatalities.

“We often hear the term crash hot spots, and caution road users to be vigilant in these areas. Areas with heavy traffic volume, especially during peak holiday seasons, are often identified as crash hot spots,” Pryce was reported as saying by State news agency
Jamaica Information Service (
JIS).

The news agency reported that the iRAP methodology uses a five-star rating system which is utilised for road safety inspection, impact assessments, and design. It focuses on five critical elements: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads, and effective post-crash care.

Star ratings,
JIS explained, are an objective measure of the level of safety built into the road through more than 50 attributes that influence risk for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

Last Friday, ITA reported that between January 1 and May 16, 2025 a total of 143 lives have been lost to road crashes, resulting from 129 fatal collisions.

However, data for the first quarter of this year show 94 road deaths from 85 fatal crashes, a 15 per cent decrease over the same period last year.

“Four parishes — St Catherine (15 per cent), St Andrew (13 per cent), St James (13 per cent), and Westmoreland (10 per cent) — contributed to 51 per cent of total road fatalities for the first quarter,” the ITA said.

The authority also reported that the most affected groups included motorcyclists, private motor vehicle drivers and pedestrians, with motorcyclists accounting for 28 per cent of fatalities, private vehicle drivers 26 per cent, and pedestrians 21 per cent.