Claude Mills, Staff Reporter8:30 A.M. HALF-WAY TREE SQUARE
A boy, not more than eight years old, stands in front of York Pharmacy. Dressed in a jeans and t-shirt, he is steeling himself for the journey across the road like a pre-suicidal man contemplating that first step off a high ledge.
He glances right to check the bus lane, then bustles across to the concrete island at the intersection of Hope and Constant Spring Roads. From there, he will have to join the hordes of people that surge across the road when the lights change, forcing the other lanes of vehicular traffic to come to a halt.
The young boy has every reason to be afraid. Twenty-six children have been killed in motor vehicle accidents since the start of the year, 18 of them pedestrians.
"The figures are quite alarming," says Chris Walker, public relations officer in the Road Safety Unit of the Ministry of Transport and Works.
"The year 2002 featured the highest fatalities in the last seven years for children travelling on the nation's roads. Up to this time last year, 25 children had been killed, this year it is 26, an increase of 4 per cent over 2002. We are very concerned," he adds.
Says one eight-year-old: "It is a little bit scary sometimes, especially when there is no pedestrian crossing. But the crossing sometimes doesn't matter, most times, I try to wait till the road is clear of cars before I try to cross. I don't want a car to lick me down."
Just weeks ago the nation cringed at the story of three children killed by a motorist on their way to school in Yallahs, St. Thomas. In a twist worthy of a Shakespearean drama, a person standing at the side of the road was killed in an accident while coming from the funeral of those three children.
Pedestrians are in danger on many roads because of the lack of sidewalks and verges, poorly maintained roads and improper signage. The police are starved of resources to enforce safe behaviour among motorists, says Walker.
SPEED KILLS
"Our data shows that if people drive within the speed limit, it is less likely that a child will be killed if there is an accident. Our data shows that only one in 10 children die when hit at a speed of 30 miles per hour, he or she is more likely to suffer just broken limbs, but at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, almost all children struck die," Mr. Walker said.
The speed limit in 'built-up areas' is 30 miles per hour, but this is often ignored by drivers, say the police.
In the meantime, work is being done to educate the public on how to use the roads. More than 276,000 'Safety on Our Roads' books have been distributed in primary schools across the country by the Ministry of Education. The book addresses safety issues and gives information about road users, road signs and tips for the children crossing roads. It also includes safety jingles and activities centred around safety on the roads.
The National Road Safety Council is also planning a three-year $5.4 million public education campaign to teach pedestrian safety, change the behaviour of road users and target young male
drivers.
"We want to do more, but we have very limited resources," notes Walker.
Another disturbing trend has popped up. The second highest number of fatalities in traffic accidents occur in the over-60 age group. "Twenty-six persons have been killed in this age group (so far this year), and it says something about how we use the roads, we continue to disregard the road code and speed limits," adds Walker. "Motorists have little regard for pedestrians. Only the agile persons between the ages of 16 and 55 survive on the roads because of their ability to get out of the way."
CROSSING GUARDS RUNNING IN FEAR
Even school crossing guards are afraid for their lives while on the job. Two were hit this year on Windward Road in East Kingston and another was killed a few years ago.
There are about 83 traffic wardens in the Corporate Area, down from a high of over 100 a few years ago. The job is not in demand because of the danger and the low pay.
"It is a dangerous job, and we don't have persons applying for the traffic warden jobs because of the low income involved in the work, they earn less than $3,000 a week, but it is a part-time job," says Corporal Andrea Clarke of the road safety education section.
"The traffic wardens often complain that the motorists don't respect them or stop when they step out on pedestrian crossings to get the children across. They often have to run out of the road, or try to dodge the speeding cars," says Corporal Clarke.
The penalty for disobeying a pedestrian crossing is between $4,000 and $5,000.
James Williams, Digicel's Father of the Year, works on Hagley Park Road assisting the children of Hagley Park Preparatory to cross the road.
"Even though the money is small, I feel like I make a difference with my job but I am concerned about the children. Many times, motorists don't bother to stop at all when I step out with my sign. Afterwards, they say that they didn't see you at all, so it is scary on the roads, motorists don't respect wardens, and they just ignore the children," he said.
Other problems include the faded pedestrian crossings all over the city.
"Almost all of them are faded, we have been lobbying with the NWA (National Works Agency) to get them remarked but no success as yet," Corporal Clarke said.
DANGEROUS LIAISONS
There is a dangerous liaison between the motorists and school children in several trouble spots. One such area is outside the Vauxhall Comprehensive School on Windward Road.
"One warden has been hit down on more than one occasion out there," says Corporal Clarke.
Other trouble spots are the faded pedestrian crossing in front of Exced Community College on Mountain View, East Kingston, and the one in front of the St. Andrew Technical High school on Spanish Town Road in West Kingston.
"We get complaints of minibuses racing on Spanish Town road, and of the older children not using the pedestrian crossing, but crossing above or below it," Corporal Clarke says.
"The biggest problem on the roads are the motorists, we have to find a way to reach them, either through the JIS (Jamaica Information Service), some insurance company or some other medium. We have to educate them."
While they try to figure it out the causalities mount. At the present rate, this year's figures are on pace to surpass even those darkly impressive figures of 2002. "I know I shouldn't but I take my job personally. Whenever a child is killed, I take it personally. When a child is killed, there is a swirl of articles, a nine-day wonder, then people move on, they forget," says Walker.
"Pedestrians in Jamaica are an endangered species, there aren't adequate facilities that allow them to cross most of the roads. There is a tussle between traffic management which wants to ensure the free flow of traffic, and the road safety unit which wants more facilities to ensure the safety of pedestrians," he notes, adding that it has been difficult to get popular athletes, deejays, radio and TV personalities to lend their talent to the public education campaign.
"No one is doing anything for free," Mr.Walker said.
