SUNDAYS — the day of worship for most Jamaicans — is proving to be deadliest on the island’s roadways, according the Road Safety Unit (RSU) in the Ministry of Transport and Mining.
Of the 248 road fatalities recorded since the beginning of the year, 47 were on a Sunday. For the similar period last year, Sunday also led with 44 of the 239 deaths.
RSU statistics list Saturday as second with 42. Last year, fatalities stood at 48. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Calvin Allen said despite their best efforts, they’re unable be everywhere.
“The police is out on the road every day and we are working hard to reduce road fatalities. However, drivers must take responsibility for getting their passengers safely to their destination; not on time, that’s secondary,” SSP told Auto.
According to the top cop, fatalities can be narrowed down to three causes — indiscipline, inexperience and impatience. “There are drivers who refuse to buckle up unless someone flashes them to alert them of the police’s presence on the road. It never happens in our presence, but we’re aware of it.”
“There are instances where the road surface is wet and drivers are failing to reduce their speed. The consequences will be deadly.” SSP Allen said recent gains in road death reductions have been eroded by multiple-fatality crashes.
“Over a 3 1/2-month period, we have had 10 collisions that claimed 38 lives,” SSP Allen told Auto.
“In July there was the Flat Bridge incident which claimed six, there was a Trelawny incident which claimed 3, there was the Dyke Road crash and the PJ Patterson Highway crash… all multiple fatalities. There are fewer collisions, but more deaths.”
The top cop said his team has so far recorded 255,000 breaches of the Road Traffic Act.
“Three thousand five hundred motorists have been ticketed for not wearing seatbelts and 3,000 for non-wearing of helmets. In addition, we have seized 760 offensive weapons, and some of these are weapons that have been featured in murders,” he said.
Last year the country recorded a total of 379 deaths as a result of road traffic crashes.