THE Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has issued an appeal to motorists in the wake of what it says is an alarming trend in motor vehicle crashes involving its poles.

According to the JPS, since the start of this year motor vehicle crashes have caused 799 power outages across the island — roughly four crash-related outages per day.

The top three parishes with the highest number of outages due to motor vehicle crashes, from January to July 2025, are: St Catherine with 120 outages; Kingston and St Andrew with 112 outages; and St Elizabeth with 88 outages — all due to motor vehicles crashing into poles and breaking or dislodging them.

The JPS highlighted that one crash can result in thousands of customers being badly inconvenienced. Additionally, these crashes also knock down street lights, plunging major corridors into darkness.

In a release on Sunday JPS pointed to the example of a crash in St Catherine in May which resulted in a broken pole and caused outages in Thompson Pen Road, Lauriston, Mount Mooreland, Tryall Heights and Keystone. A total of 2,153 customers were left without power due to that single incident.

The company also pointed to Westmoreland, where it noted that while there have been fewer outages due to crashes, the impact of each crash can still be significant.

For example, in Belmont in that parish, over the Easter weekend in April, a motorist attempting to enter his property missed his gate and crashed into a pole, breaking it. This resulted in a major outage from Font Hill to Auchindown, affecting roughly 3,000 customers.

“Also on July 4, an accident in Kingswood, Westmoreland, resulted in an outage for more than 2,000 customers. While over in the east, on July 3 a motor vehicle accident along the Allan Avenue Main Road in Port Antonio, Portland resulted in an outage for more than 5,000 customers.

“Trelawny has the fewest outages caused by motor vehicle accidents — standing at 22 such outages,” the JPS said in the release.

The company said it is appealing to all road users to exercise caution and remain alert, even as they continue to enjoy the holidays, as a single moment of poor judgement can cause personal harm and injury to themselves and others as well as take down a utility pole, disrupting service to entire communities.

“JPS remains committed to delivering safe, reliable electricity, but the company cannot do it alone. JPS appeals to everyone to help prevent the next accident. Road safety and power reliability go hand in hand,” added the JPS.

This crash in St Ann downs a pole, depriving several JPS customers of electricty.

This crash in St Ann destroys a pole and other electrical infrastructure.