Small jump in fatal crashes gets attention of St Ann cops
OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Convinced that excessive speeding is behind the increase in the number of road deaths in St Ann, the officer in charge of the parish has vowed that the police will maintain a visible presence in hot spots and keep pushing for lawbreakers to be prosecuted.
“We are seeing a slight uptick in traffic collisions and we are watching those areas. We observe that, especially on the north-south [leg of] Highway [2000], there is excessive speeding contributing to a number of crashes. Spots between Mamee Bay into Discovery Bay also accounted for a number of our crashes,” said Senior Superintendent Dwight Powell.
He was speaking at Thursday’s regular monthly meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation.
“We are putting in mitigating measures, such as road policing, with a view to ramp up our road safety. We have also ramped up our traffic enforcement, and since the start of the year we have pushed very hard at prosecution with a view to mitigate traffic crashes,” he added.
There have been 21 deaths from 17 fatal crashes in St Ann since the start of the year. For the corresponding period last year there were 15 fatalities.
“I want to advise motorists travelling through our parish to ensure that they observe the rules of the roads and that they take their life and the lives of others into consideration whilst travelling on our main arterial roads,” urged Powell.