A RASH of fatal road accidents late last year was a jarring reminder that danger still lurks on Jamaican highways. Indeed Paula Fletcher, executive director of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), indicated in an article in yesterday's Sunday Gleaner that the optimism for major improvement in road traffic safety was shaken by the 20 fatalities in four accidents between December 20 and 27.
It is not surprising that excessive speeding was a major factor; and this in spite of the fact that the traffic police have maintained a heavy presence on the roads.
Another factor cited is overloading which contract carriages practice, obviously to make more money. They break the rules in this respect oblivious of the negative effect on the ability to control the vehicle, and, more seriously, uncaring about the safety of passengers. For if the vehicle is overloaded there will not be enough safety belts for all passengers.
There is some irony in the fact that the police have been maintaining a heavy presence on the roads and that they now have 50 new radar guns to monitor speeding. While this should be a welcome positive, it is well known that rogue cops are tarnishing the system a factor that the NRSC is well aware of and about which many motorists caught in speed traps can testify.
The irony is compounded by the fact that the fine for speeding has been raised to such a level that there is room for negotiation which a rogue can subtly imply. Motorists, wary of the time consumed in attending traffic court, can and are induced to pay a cut-rate penalty which does not enhance public revenues.
Again, this is a matter which the NRSC sees as warranting serious examination in 2005, along with amendment of the Road Traffic Act; rewriting of the Road Code; certifying driving instructors; modernising the system of testing vehicles and eradicating bogus driver's licences and vehicle fitness certificates.
This is a formidable catalogue of shortcomings as cited by the NRSC, in effect, urging that they must be tackled with urgency.
Modernising the highway system is fine and costly. But if better roads invite higher speeds without corresponding adjustments in driving behaviour as well as the administrative amendments that have been identified, then there will be danger ahead on the highways.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
