Solutions to reduce road fatalities

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Almost every day there is a road accident in our country, and most of the times lives are lost. Loved ones are left mourning and in most cases, if not all, never get over that loss.

Driving on our roads can be one of the most fearful experiences a good driver can have. After obeying the stop lights, pedestrian crossings, speed limits and so forth, here comes the other not so good, or should I say disobedient driver, who most of the times is the main culprit for most of our road accidents and fatalities.

My suggestion is quite simple, although it may need more resources in terms of more police officers being deployed on our streets and changing the way they operate to help stem this problem.

Instead of the police doing spot checks for speeding, hiding behind trees and entrances to buildings or at a bottom of a hill just to give a ticket, they should be visibly present at all times.

I believe if police officers are seen everywhere we go, it would save more lives. That speedy, or some of these, as we say in Jamaica, out and bad drivers, would know not to even try it because a police officer is going to see them and penalise them.

That simple fix can save lives because these unruly drivers are the ones who most of the times cause the carnage on our roads.

Police presence needs to be more pronounced on our streets. And I mean a much, much greater presence than what is happening now.

As it relates to pedestrians, more should be done to get them to always use the pedestrian crossing. The police can engage in more community policing to advise citizens as to the proper and right way to cross our streets.

I believe these suggestions could be a great start in saving lives on our roads.

LAWRENCE BARKER