Road accidents hitting the roof
Published:Saturday | April 13, 2024 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
We are barely in the fourth month of the year 2024 and the deaths caused by road traffic accidents are climbing the Blue Mountains. In one week, the doctors in the parish of St Ann have been busy trying to save the lives of multiple crash victims. The latest road crashes were on the Dunn’s River main road and at Fern Gully where there was a total of 4 deaths and multiple persons injured. The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is saddened every year as they watch their efforts to keep road fatalities at a low level blow up in smoke. As at the first week of April, the road traffic deaths stood at over 100, and, if we were to follow that trend, the figure would be over 400 by the end of the year.
The roll-out of the new road traffic act in 2023 was in the hope of seeing a reduction in the carnage on the roads. This, however, has not been fairing out as the authorities had hoped. The madness on the roads continued, even after the road traffic fines broke the pockets of motorists. Heading the list as chief road bully are the public passenger operators. Bus and taxi operators continue to win the NRSC’s award for the worst drivers on the nation’s road. The operators do not fear being ticketed; neither do they fear the camera system called Jamaica Eye, which can be used to identify drivers who run afoul of the law. This is evident by the volume of traffic tickets they continue to rack up every month.
It should be noted that road traffic accidents are not confined to the driving of public passenger operators only. They include general driver indiscipline, faulty vehicles, and unfit roads. This translates into a negative driving culture that people have grown to accept as normal. Drivers driving on the soft shoulder, overtaking around corners, and excessively speeding, among a myriad of offences. In addition, the government is not held accountable for bad and poorly lit roads; there are no automatic sanctions for indisciplined driving, and the process to acquire a driver’s licence needs to be investigated.
It is unfortunate that Jamaica will not see a significant reduction in road traffic fatalities until drivers exercise discipline, government holds contractors and themselves accountable for poorly constructed roads, and there is an effective 20/20 Jamaica Eye.
HEZEKAN BOLTON