WITH motorcyclists accounting for 27 per cent of the 219 fatalities on Jamaica’s roads since the start of this year, road safety advocates have stepped up their efforts to address this growing problem.

The advocates recently engaged in discussions to advance key strategies to deal with motorcycle-related fatalities during the National Helmet Wearing Coalition’s Heads-Up! Regional Think Tank held at the AC Hotel Kingston.

A voluntary body dedicated to promoting helmet safety and reducing motorcycle-related crashes in Jamaica, the coalition is led by the JN Foundation and the National Road Safety Council, with financial support from the FIA Foundation.

The body unites safety advocates, motorcycle enthusiasts, educators, medical professionals and government agencies to create a safer environment for motorcyclists and pillion riders.

Discussions at the think tank focused on expanding access to certified helmets, promoting safer riding practices, and supporting the strengthening of road safety legislation and enforcement to better protect riders and passengers.

Technical assistant in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Donaree Muirhead, representing portfolio minister Daryl Vaz, argued that, “The real issue is not the presence of motorcycles on the roads, but rather, the widespread lack of helmet-wearing use and limited access to certified helmets.”

According to Muirhead, the problem is not only national but regional.

“Research shows that wearing a certified helmet reduces the risk of death and head injuries…yet helmet use remains dangerously low in many of our communities,” lamented Muirhead.

She noted that a knowledge, attitudes and practice survey has also been conducted involving 500 respondents islandwide, and a situational analysis completed to assess Jamaica’s current helmet safety culture and identify key legislative and regulatory guides.

“These achievements are more than commendable. They represent a blueprint for regional replication…They demonstrate what is possible when research, policy, and people unite,” Muirhead said.

In the meantime programmes director of the FIA Foundation, Agnieszka Krasnolucka, noted that while motorcycles have become an integral and fast-growing mode of transportation across the region, they are one of the riskiest forms of road travel.

She said that riders face a significantly higher risk of fatal head injuries and wearing a certified helmet can reduce the chance of death by over six times and brain injury by up to 70 per cent.

“The risk of death in a crash can be as much as 20 to 35 times higher compared to those people in the car, and what’s really critical to note is that motorcycle riders are most likely to die of head injury, and this is totally unacceptable because we have a solution to prevent that,” she stressed.

Krasnolucka called for stronger legislation, enforcement, and improved access to affordable, quality helmets to save lives.

For her part, general manager of the JN Foundation, Claudine Allen, argued that with the majority of motorcycle crash victims being men in their prime working years, the problem has become an economic issue.

She reiterated the coalition’s goal of “getting safe helmets on heads — on every ride, be the ride five minutes long or five hours long”.

Allen acknowledged the impact of cultural factors, such as appearance, discomfort, and social image that prevent helmet use. “This effort is…to address some of those issues,” said Allen as she called for easier access to certified helmets.

— JIS