The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has employed various strategies throughout the year in an effort to keep road fatalities down, including enforcement measures and public education.

Acting assistant commissioner of police (ACP) in charge of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) Lloyd Darby told JIS News that fatal collisions remain a public health and road safety concern.

“For the last 60 years, only seven times have we gone below 300 deaths on our roads. The last time was in 2012 when we had 260… and we had a high 488 in 2022. In 2025, we had 374 deaths for the entire year,” he said.

“So, we embarked on a sub-300 strategy for 2026, and that included cutting motorcyclists’ deaths by 50 per cent and 10 per cent for the other vulnerable road users,” the senior officer added.

Regarding public education, Darby said the JCF has utilised mainstream and social media to inform the public of ongoing developments and to share road safety tips.

“We have our enforcement activities… [and] we concentrate them in the crash hot spots that are located across the island. We concentrate on the moving violations, because these are the offences that contribute to crashes. So we have issued 176,000 more tickets overall than we did this time last year,” he stated.

“We have issued 76,000 more speeding tickets, over 6,000 more seat belt tickets, over 1,600 more tickets for not wearing the prescribed helmets… and in the motorcycle situation, we have seized some 2,000 more motorcycles than we seized this time last year,” Darby added.

The police have also cracked down on driving under the influence, and several individuals have been prosecuted for their roles in fatal crashes.

“[A total of] 115 persons have been arrested for driving under the influence of a drink. Apart from the persons that have been arrested, we have found that many persons have been found with excess alcohol, but below the limit for which they can be charged,” he said.

With at least two road crashes involving children in recent weeks, the PSTEB head is encouraging greater parental responsibility regarding the whereabouts of children.

“We see where parental responsibility is lacking in some of our crashes. We had incidents in St Ann and St Mary… So we implore parents and guardians… it is your responsibility to know the whereabouts of your children, and to ensure that they are not in situations that put them in danger,” Darby added.