Efforts to reduce road fatalities have swayed between blaming motorists and faulty road networks over the years. Road safety experts and law enforcement are demanding the government provide a proper budget to fix damaged roads across the island. Motorists have been taking the blame for road accidents, for ignoring road laws, and are usually singled out as threats to road safety.
However, in the midst of these warnings, much focus is now being placed on poor road infrastructure resulting in crashes. Vice Chairman of the National Road Safety Council Dr. Lucien Jones says the NRSC wants to improve lighting, policing, and other road works that could reduce accidents. However, he says the government reportedly has no budget for those changes. By focusing on even one of the roads were prone to crashes, he says fatalities and crashes can be severely reduced over time. Dr. Jones says as a country Jamaica hasn’t met the world health organization’s standards for safe roads, by even half. He explains the police have documented all the roads in Jamaica that require improvement, especially those prone to crashes. Dr. Jones says they’ll be pushing the budget proposal and expect a response by 2023.
Nasika Alliman
