There was good news regarding road safety in Jamaica late last week.

We hear that the period March 18 to 24 was among the safest for road users here in recent times.

The Road Safety Unit (RSU) reported just a single death related to motor vehicle crashes on our roads over those seven days.

Of course, even one death is too many. Clearly, though, just one in a week on Jamaican roads is big improvement, given the carnage to which we have become accustomed.

Is the new Road Traffic Act having an effect? We certainly would like to think so.

We are told by the the RSU that 94 people died in 83 crashes in Jamaica up to March 24, which represents a 17 per cent decrease in fatal crashes and a 19 per cent fall in deaths, compared to the similar period last year.

Heartening too was news last week that the RSU and the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) have joined hands to teach high school students safe, responsible driving techniques before they get behind the wheel.

The Government’s information arm, Jamaica Information Service, says this is being done through a Learner Driver Education Programme.

Under the new Road Traffic Act, a road code test must be taken before a provisional driver’s licence (learner’s permit) is granted. The applicant must be at least 17 years old.

The Learner Driver Education Programme is dedicated to helping young people get a “full understanding” of the road code and how to drive safely and defensively. Emphasis on the use of helmets by motorcyclists, among other protective gear, is obviously of central importance.

Unsafe driving by young males, 19 to 25 years old, is said to be a big concern.

Indeed, according to RSU figures, of 488 deaths on Jamaican roads last year, more than 160 victims were categorised as young.

“We find that young people [mostly men] are the ones that are doing the fast driving, the ones that want to impress their friends,” said education/information officer at the RSU Mr Dontae Matthews.

The aim, we are told, is to have the Learner Driver Education Programme in at least one school in every parish before 2023 ends, and that, in addition to students, teachers also have the opportunity to benefit.

“It is the aim of the RSU and the ITA to have a change in the culture, a positive driving culture, and it is part of a larger mechanism to get a new generation of drivers having critical skills, helping to avoid crashes and recognising that we have to drive for ourselves and the other persons on the road,” director of the RSU Ms Deidre Hudson-Sinclair is reported as saying.

We applaud.

Also, it seems to us, serious thought needs to be given to systematic education for pedestrians.

Any motorist who has ever had the hair-raising experience of headlights suddenly revealing a pedestrian in dark clothing, with back to the traffic on an unlit road at night, can relate to that. We believe it is no coincidence that figures show pedestrians accounted for 24 per cent of road deaths as of March 24 this year.

Road-use education should be of primary importance for everyone.