Three hospitalised after Temple Hall crashes
Published:Saturday | March 2, 2024 | 12:10 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Emergency responders were summoned to two crash sites along the Temple Hall main road in St Andrew on Friday as at least three persons were left nursing serious injuries.
The busy thoroughfare, which connects St Andrew and St Mary, has recorded at least four accidents is the past three weeks.
In the latest incidents, the Stony Hill Fire Station and the police were called shortly after midnight on Thursday night to rescue the occupants trapped in a mangled Toyota Probox.
That vehicle had crashed head-on with another Toyota Probox, the latter driven by security guards from KingAlarm.
A man and a woman were assisted to hospital.
Following that incident and before a change in shift and emergency personnel, the police were again called to the scene of an accident further along the roadway after a vehicle driven by a female motorist reportedly crashed into a truck and overturned.
The Gleaner understands the woman was rushed to a Corporate Area-based hospital for treatment.
On Sunday, February 4, about 11 a.m., another female motorist reportedly lost control of a vehicle, which landed in a riverbed along the Temple Hall main road. She was rescued by a team from the Stony Hill Fire Station and other motorists passing by.
“I don’t know how she end up over there. The accident was puzzling. She was travelling by herself … . A lot of motorists underestimate this road ... . People have to take time and drive, day or night,” a resident told The Gleaner.
It was also disclosed that just days before that crash, another female motorist escaped with her life after she was pulled from her disabled vehicle, which had crashed into an embankment along the very same roadway.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
“The lady crash and another woman stop and assist her out of the car, and by the time them walk away some metres, the car burst into flames. The woman was so thankful that she was pulled from the car or else she would have burned inside the vehicle,” a resident of the area said.
The burnt shell of the vehicle was left along the roadway for several days before it was removed.
In its latest report, which was released on Friday, the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) said road fatalities have decreased by 21 per cent year-on-year, a difference of 17 fatalities when compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
“As of March 1, 2024, sixty-three lives have been lost to road crashes, resulting from 55 fatal collisions,” it reported.
The Road Safety Unit in the ITA is calling for a change in road user behaviour in 2024 to achieve a further decline in road crashes and fatalities.
In 2023, Jamaica recorded 425 road fatalities, resulting from 384 fatal collisions.
The fatalities represent a 18 per cent decline from 2022, while fatal collisions saw a 15 per cent reduction.
The parishes of Westmoreland, St Catherine, and St Andrew accounted for the highest number of fatalities last year, with males accounting for 88 per cent of the victims.
The Road Safety Unit said motorcyclists, pedestrians and private motor vehicle drivers were the road user categories with the highest number of road fatalities in 2023.
“Road users must ensure they cut out distractions, cut out all unnecessary actions that could lead to a crash or a fatality and think about their loved ones who they want to go home to. It is also very important that they learn the road code and abide by it,” the agency said in a release.