A THREE-year-old child from Gordon Wood, St. Catherine, narrowly escaped death Thursday when she attempted to cross a section of the Old Harbour bypass.
Neither the child, whose identity was not disclosed, nor the motorist, was hurt. The child, however, was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital to be treated for shock.
The Highway police reported that at about 9:45 a.m., the child came through a cut section of the chain-link fence bordering the community in which she lives and attempted to cross the toll road on her way to school.
"The child should not be crossing the road. Luckily, nothing serious, but it points to the danger, you cannot have people crossing any major roadway willy-nilly," said Kingsley Thomas, head of the Government agency overseeing the highway development, National Road Operating and Construction Company.
"We have provided a bus service for those who want to go to school, and it is highly irresponsible of the parents to have allowed an incident like this to have happened."
"This is a very unfortunate incident," said Phillipe Lassauce, General Manager of Jamaican Infrastructure Operators Limited, operators of the Vineyards Toll Plaza. "But it seems that, despite our efforts to educate the residents along the highway, someone continues to cut our fencing and persons still feel that they can take their life and it seems the lives of their children into their hands."
The public is reminded that overpass and underpass pedestrian crossings are provided at convenient spots along the highway. Any other way could result in tragedy as vehicles are travelling at high speeds.
