With just four months remaining in the year, over 200 Jamaican deaths have been recorded on the nation’s roadways due to road crashes.

The Island Traffic Authority (ITA) notes that as of Wednesday (August 7), the number of Jamaicans who died due to road fatalities stood at 232—a result of speeding, failure to keep to the proper traffic lane, and pedestrians walking out or standing in the roadway.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Gary McKenzie, head of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB), shared with Our Today that excess speed has resulted in 45 crashes up to July 31, while failing to keep to the near side of the road, 35, pedestrians walking or standing in the roadway, 19, improper overtaking, 13, and diverted attention, 12.

These, he noted, are the top five causes of road fatalities.

He also shared that some ten people have been killed since the beginning of this month, resulting from seven crashes.

“We have been trying to occupy the roadways, and that is seen by people, but as soon as they pass the police, they start to speed up, and in some instances, it is clear that the drivers become very impatient and they just make bad decisions, and as a result of that, we have crashes,” ACP McKenzie explained.

He said members of the PSTEB will continue to identify areas where road crashes occur frequently and seek to reduce them.

Enforcement

The assistant commissioner said some 382,945 traffic tickets have been issued by PSTEB service members since July 31, a 21 per cent increase when compared to last year.

“We are doing the enforcement, and in fact, when we look at exceeding the speed limit, we have, issued some 41,602 tickets, which is 5,473 more than in 2023. We are trying our best to increase those numbers,” McKenzie said.

Despite the issuance of more than 380,000 traffic tickets, McKenzie said there remains a challenge as some motorists are not attending court.

“Some people are not coming to court; they are not paying the fine. As a result of that, the courts are issuing warrants, and we are executing them, and we will continue to execute them,” he said.

He said some 66 warrants were executed on 15 people on Independence Day. McKenzie said one individual had 16 warrants that were executed.

“We are continuing that kind of thrust in a very big way because today (August 7), we actually arrested 43 people and executed 135 warrants, this morning at the Traffic Court. We still have a lot to execute and the warning to people is that they need to be looking at our traffic warrant that is advertised on our JCF website on Thursdays. If they see their names they need to call the traffic department at Elletson Road and make an inquiry as to whether or not they are the individual the warrant is outstanding. This is very important for them to do because if they don’t do it and then they are caught, then they will be arrested,” he said.

Motorists may contact the traffic department at 876-349-9366 to make their inquiry about their outstanding warrants.

McKenzie is urging road users to take responsibility while using the nation’s roadways to help reduce the risk of injury and fatalities.

Last year, some 425 road users were killed as a result of 384 fatal road crashes.