5K for survivors, dead

Sheldon Williams, Staff Reporter

The victims of road crashes will be the focus of Grennell's Driving School's Road Safety 5K 2014, scheduled for Saturday, June 7, at 7 a.m. It will be the fourth staging of the event and its third time in Kingston.

Managing director of the school, Alphanso
Grennell, explained that both survivors and those who have perished in
crashes will be highlighted.

"The emphasis of the 5K
is really to bring into focus the number of lives that have been maimed
and people that have been paralysed and devastated because of motor
vehicle crashes ... . To remember those persons and (for the living)
bring some sort of relief for them," he
said.

Participants are being encouraged to wear
remembrance pins, among other items that will pay homage to their loved
ones who died in road crashes. "Persons can wear little buttons of
family members. We are actually planning to put up one of those memory
boards in remembrance, where people can write on it 'In memory of so and
so'," Grennell said.

He emphasised that participants
should "walk with a picture, anything that will bring a message to the
tell the motorists on the road that are passing by that the way they
drive can severely affect the lives of many others when they are driving
on the road."

Part proceeds from the event will be
donated to the Jamaica Fire Brigade to purchase lifesaving equipment, as
well as the Percy Junor Hospital in Manchester.

"The
Fire Brigade will receive well-needed equipment to deal with people
trapped in wreckage, to cordon off an area with traffic cones and access
other specialised equipment to break windscreens to get to people
trapped in vehicles," Grennell said.

Under severe
stress

He added that the Percy Junor Hospital "has
come under severe stress and pressure over the last couple of years. In
two instances, two Holmwood High girls were killed and, as a result of
the number of people that were injured, they were severely underequipped
to deal with the volume of persons that were brought
there".

Grennell rued that, during the crises,
"persons were left outside on cardboard and boxes, because the hospital
is not equipped to deal with that level of trauma. As a result, we have
selected them to be one of the recipients to benefit from the
event."

The run will start at Grennell's Driving
School, near the dam on Mona Road. The runners will head east along Mona
Road, near the Total Gas Station and Mona Church of
Christ.

After covering a 5K distance, the runners will
also end at the driving school.

Persons interested in
participating in the Grennell's Driving School's Road Safety 5K 2014
can register online by visiting
www.jamaicaroadsafetyexpo.org, or by calling
977-5249.

The entrance fee is $500 for children,
$1,000 for adults, and $500 for disabled persons. There is also a
special registration rate for companies. Sponsors of the run include
Petrojam, IGL, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), and Power 106
FM.

Top participants will receive trophies, medals,
tablets and gift vouchers.