KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar 31, CMC – The vice-chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) Dr Lucien Jones, has called on all stakeholders to put in place the necessary measures that will “stop this madness of excessive speeding and distracted driving and distracted walking on our roads”.
Jones was speaking after Sunday’s fatal car accident that left four people, including an eight-year-old boy, dead along the PJ Patterson Highway.
So far this year, 92 people have been killed in road accidents, 14 less for the same period last year.
“The pain and the grief of families and for the nation is what we must all attend to. How can we bring this to an end? We need all resources possible. Everybody has to be on deck with this, the entire nation to try and put a stop to this kind of multiple fatality crash.
“We continue to speak, we continue to warn, we continue to work with civil society and the Government, especially with the police to try and put an end to this. It can be done but every hand has to be on deck to stop this kind of carnage and pain and grief that we are all suffering,” Jones told the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
He said that all the work being undertaken by the NRSC is aimed at preventing the tragedies such as what occurred on Sunday, and that road fatalities place second on the list of the leading causes of violent death in Jamaica behind murders.
He said that all those killed were under the age of 30, adding “this is absolutely shocking and it happened on one of the best roads in the country. All our efforts are to try and prevent this kind of craziness, this kind of suffering and pain for families. Ninety-two people have died this year, 92 precious souls.
Sunday’s accident resulted in the deaths of Tyesha Manhertz and Wendy Lammie, ages 22 and 29, respectively, as well as 27 year-old Andre McLeish and eight year old Tray Stewart.
Poloce said they were among several passengers including children who were heading into Kingston. The vehicle reportedly overturned after the driver lost control of the vehicle and then crashed into the median on the highway.
Jones said that based on information he received from the police, there is some evidence that “distracted driving” among other factors played a role in Sunday’s deadly crash.
“The police report suggested that somebody was speeding. There was distracted driving and there is inquiry about a collision with a vehicle in a previous crash. This is our worst nightmare come true as road safety advocates.”
Jones said what is required are “drivers who are not watching and streaming videos while driving and all kinds of craziness, drivers who don’t speed and who are not distracted, who don’t drive under the influence of alcohol, who don’t use their cellphones and drive and pedestrians who use the roads carefully.
“In this context of reported distracted driving and speeding, of the five components that make up the safe systems approach that the National Road Safety Council has been promoting, safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe road users and an efficient post-crash system, by far the most important one we face in this country is producing safe road users,” Jones said.
The NRSC vice-chairman called for an all hands-on-deck approach “to stop this madness of excessive speeding and distracted driving and distracted walking on our roads”.
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