WE HAVE long known that there are gross inefficiencies and corruption in the process by which we test and license drivers and motor vehicles in Jamaica and that the whole thing is long past due for an overhaul. What we might not have known, which is beginning to emerge, is the depth and consequence of this corruption.

Last week, the Pan American Health Organisation's (PAHO) office in Jamaica released a study showing that of 326 road fatalities on the island last year, 263, or 81 per cent, of them were caused by male drivers. In the first three months of 2006, this worrying trend continued, with males being responsible for 96 per cent of the 152 road fatalities.

In other circumstances, we might have argued that all this is the result of raging male testosterone gone amok in the Jamaican cauldron; and there may be some of that.

But the PAHO study indicates that this is not the real story. The problem is far more fundamental and speaks to a failure of policy, management, and governance.

PAHO found that of the nearly 450 persons in its sample, as high as 71 per cent did not do the appropriate driver's test, which the researchers extrapolated to the national population.

Moreover, fewer than half the drivers learned from formal instructors. Worse, nearly 60 per cent of drivers of commercial vehicles got their training from family and friends. Just over half the taxi drivers went this route while they learned to drive.

This, of course, raises the obvious question of just how well are these people being taught, especially in the context of when over 70 per cent of the drivers 'Jim Screech' their way through the testing process and four in 10 of those who got their licences legitimately still ended up in accidents. And before we begin to get self-righteous about those who beat the system and make assumptions about the demographics of 'those people', we had better understand that at 71 per cent of the driving population, it includes ourselves, our friends, our neighbours and our business associates.

This study is beginning to give us a picture of who is causing the annual mayhem on our roads and why. The issue now is what is to be done about it. One obvious intervention is road safety campaigns. But that can't be all.

It is clear, as it has been known for a very long time, that the Government has made a hash of the management of the Island Traffic Authority. It has long talked of dispensing of the mess, via privatisation. It has done little.

It should now be obvious that this is a matter that needs urgent attention. Clearly, there is need for legislation setting out the criteria for the training of drivers and for the training and registration of instructors. Very important also, there must be fundamental reform of the system. It should be clear that it cannot remain in the charge of those who now manage the process. Unless, that is, we like the blood and gore on our roads.

THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.