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Road hogs, beware! - Breathalysers, police beef-up to target reckless motorists
Published: Friday | December 5, 2008
Sergeant Leroy Christopher of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Traffic and Highway Patrol Division administers an alcohol-level test to David Robinson, a private citizen, during a demonstration at the Elletson Road Police Station in Kingston on Tuesday. The exercise was part of activities, organised by the National Road Safety Council, to kick off two months of increased and sustained breathalyser testing among motorists islandwide. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
The police have ramped up deployment on Jamaica's streets to militate against road fatalities and have activated a plan for wide-scale breathalyser testing to rein in drunk driving.
Head of the Traffic Division and highway patrol, Superintendent Fred Hibbert, warned young, male motorists - who constitute a major road-crash cohort - to desist from speeding in the lead-up to the holidays.
"Young men between ages 20 and 28 years old are most at risk," Hibbert said Tuesday.
User demonstration
Hibbert made the comments shortly after a user demonstration of new hand-held SD5 breathalysers and intoxilysers at the Traffic Division's Elletson Road headquarters.
The division has 200 hand-held SD5s and 20 intoxilysers. The hand-held device can detect amounts of alcohol or other mind-altering substances which exceed the legal limit.
Traffic police have increased their presence on Corporate Area roads to help minimise the possibility of road accidents and fatalities and target law-breaking motorists.
Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Council also appealed to motorists to refrain from risky driving practices.
Take responsibility
"You must take responsibility for your life," said Paula Fletcher, executive director of the council, on Tuesday. She also encouraged persons not to drink and drive.
Earlier this year, the Road Safety Council launched the 'Save 300 Lives' campaign, a public-education pitch aimed at preventing road fatalities from reaching the 300 mark in 2008.
According to police statistics, road fatalities now stand at 287, a nine per cent decrease compared to the corresponding period last year. That figure was 315.
Fletcher
Category of persons killed in road accidents:
| Pedestrians | 78 |
| Pedal cyclists | 34 |
| Motorcyclists | 36 |
| Pillion passengers | 3 |
| PPV passengers | 11 |
| PMC passengers | 43 |
| CMC passengers | 4 |
| PPV drivers | 12 |
| PMC drivers | 49 |
| CMC drivers | 5 |
Figures up to the end of November 2008
 
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