Driver behaviour and severe penalties

THE DISORDER caused by the recent taxi driver strike, in response to what they perceived to be excessive penalties in the proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Act, has given cause for reflection. The Government, in response, has delayed the bill in the Senate for further consultation and public education. It is useful to recall that these amendments have been in gestation for nearly 15 years.

The new bill calls for sharply increased fines for breaches of the road code, mandatory training and certification of motor vehicle driving instructors, curtailing the use of electronic handheld devices while driving, and increased powers for the Island Traffic Authority.

At the time of tabling in 2014, the amendments were “expected to change the culture of driving and road usage among Jamaicans” and thus reduce accidents leading to deaths, injuries and property damage. Four years, and hundreds of deaths later, the controversial amendments are still struggling to get parliamentary approval.

While taxi drivers were not able to gather widespread support for their protest, they were, however, able to get some people to contemplate whether these new heavy traffic fines are enough to alter driver behaviour. This issue has been debated for decades and the evidence is inconclusive.

The evidenced-based analysis used to support the argument behind the legislation has not been made public. The Ministry of Transport ought to be willing to share such data. Legislative changes affecting the lives and livelihoods of citizens are expected to rest on solid evidence-based analysis.

Across the world, the general deterrent influences of heavy fines for poor road use are quite variable and depend on such factors as economic motivation to engage in the sanctioned behaviour; the personality of the potential offending driver, and the conflicting norms of the group to which the individual owes loyalty and affection.

The consensus, from various studies around the world, is that the effectiveness of legal sanction depends, most important, on the perceived risk of apprehension and conviction, and second, on the severity of the penalty. In Jamaica, where enforcement is weak, and current fines are relatively low, a culture of poor and dangerous road use has taken root. This is most evident on the roads in Westmoreland, where motorcyclists, often with pillion riders, speed along without helmets. Deaths and severe injuries occur regularly.

A few months ago, key intersections across Kingston were saturated with traffic police to improve compliance with the existing road code. The result was a dramatic improvement in road usage for a few days. Most public transport operators changed their behaviour on fear of being apprehended. The police were commended by the public. Then they were withdrawn, and the city reverted to the usual traffic chaos and driver indiscipline.

While the short-lived experiment of the police in the city in dealing with easily detected violations gave hope about what is possible, there are questions about its usefulness in dealing with the type of accident-producing behaviour that society care most about: speeding, and drunk or drug-induced driving.

Deploying CCTV and other technologies to ensure detection of moving violations, along with the proper police follow-up for conviction, can go a long way in improving traffic flow in the city. This would free up resources to better police areas where most of the serious and deadly accidents occur.

MORE STUDIES NEEDED

The long history of lawlessness on Jamaican roads should have induced many studies to support or question the kind of proposed road traffic code changes being debated. The country needs answers to questions like: Could heavier fines lead to lower conviction rates as authorities become reluctant to enforce them on the poor? Will the heavier fines lead more to greater corruption? These are experiences found in other countries.

These are questions that ought to be explored by think tanks and research institutes where expertise is brought together to do analyses and make recommendations for action based on relevant and accurate data. There are too few such institutions in Jamaica.

One such is the Caribbean Policy Research Institute, which seems to focus largely on making research findings available, without making explicit policy recommendations. Others need to be established to support the development of policy and implementation flowing from research findings.