Jamaica first Caribbean country to launch Think campaign

The Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA) launched the Think Before You Drive’ road safety campaign at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on 19 May. General Manager Allan Beckford said “We are launching this latest initiative to reduce the carnage on our nation’s roads at a time when a thick gloom of sadness hangs in the air”. He was referring to the five deaths that occurred on Highway 2000 the day before. Nine persons were also injured when a speeding, overcrowded minibus blew a rear tyre.

Chairman Earl Jarrett explained that the Think campaign will encourage people to make conscious, deliberate decisions about their safety and to act on them. “With the high levels of road accidents in Jamaica, this road safety programme provides an opportunity for us to get our motorists engaging in acts of personal safety, which will ripple outwards in ensuring the safety of others and reduce the burden on the society,” he said.

He also took the occasion to appeal for the establishment of safety standards for vehicles being imported into the country. Mr Jarrett stressed: “Jamaica does not stipulate requirements of seat belts for buses, and I suggest that this be examined as a means of contributing to the decline of deaths in accidents such as this. With its implementation, many more lives can be saved.”

According to the Toll Authority 30 % of all accidents on the highways are due to faulty tyres. “This statistic is startling and must be addressed urgently,” said Jarrett. The JAA will distribute 200,000 tyre pressure gauges to drivers across the island during the campaign.

Alan Beckford, General Manager of the JAA, said that Jamaica is the only English-speaking Caribbean island that is on board with the FIA Foundation. “It is by virtue of our membership in the FIA Foundation that we are able to continue our role of being an advocate for road safety and protecting the rights of our motorists and have been able to participate in the TBYD road safety campaign,” Mr. Beckford stated.

Robert Pickersgill, Housing, Transport, Water & Works Minister, who spoke on behalf of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, and is also Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, urged a redoubling of efforts “to stop the carnage on our roads and save lives”.

“The Public sector spends approximately $ 500 million each year to care for those who are injured in crashes,” he said. ‘Hospital costs may also include time spent in the intensive care unit, which is very expensive,” Pickersgill added.

Jamaica’s road death toll since 2001 is around 809 and for the past 15 years, the gender breakdown shows that 81% killed are males and 19% females. Children and the elderly have accounted for approximately 30 % of all road traffic accident fatalities over the last five years.

In the first quarter of 2005, Jamaica had 115 reported fatal accidents and 130 deaths. These increased to 300 deaths by the end of the year. The situation is not improving. The Road Safety Council reports a sharp increase in road traffic accidents and fatalities in the first quarter of 2006.

Mr. Pickersgill noted that a programme for the identification and reconstruction of Collision Bad Spots is to be put in place by the National Works Agency, which has identified seven such spots island wide.

Mr. Pickersgill added. “I am told that this is a ‘happy marriage’ between two of Jamaica’s most successful companies and an invigorated JAA. I thank the international partners, the FIA and Bridgestone International for conceptualizing and making the materials available for the implementation of this programme, and it is with a great deal of hope that I launch this campaign and look forward to a successful outcome of this initiative, “