... Seatbelt provides 50 per cent safety; air bag provides 10 per cent – Montague

THE MINISTER of Transport and Mining is working closely with the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) to ensure that Jamaicans can be trained in black-box analysis and traffic crash investigation by June 2018.

Black boxes are data recorders that preserve inputs from the vehicle’s sensors. This often includes the five to 10 seconds before an accident occurs. After an accident, the data can be downloaded and stored to help determine conditions that contributed to the crash.

Minister of Transport and Mining Robert Montague, says that since the start of the year, 108 persons have been killed in traffic crashes, noting that the crashes were predominantly due to poor decisions made by the driver.

“Let me remind everyone that whenever a traffic crash occurs, it causes grave imbalances to the socio-economic fabric of the nation. Traffic crashes have the potential to destroy families. Hence I beseech every Jamaican to drive for the family,” he implored at a gathering at the 7th International Road Federation Caribbean Regional Congress, held at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel in St James on Tuesday.

“Road safety is everybody’s business, so I expect every motorist and passenger to be buckled and wearing the respective protective gear as they operate in the traffic environment.”

The minister also issued a stern warning to drivers and passengers, cautioning them against the deadly habit of not wanting to “always wear their seat belts”.

“Remember that seat belts provide 50 per cent of safety and the air bag provides 10 per cent. This means if your vehicle is equipped with both, you are travelling with 60 per cent of safety,” he pointed out.