Road safety saves

NOW IN its 10th year, the Jamaica Driver and Traffic Safety Expo, held last Saturday, focused on promoting behavioural change and presenting information in an engaging manner.

“We wanted to make this year’s celebration bigger and better and so we ensured there were activities that appealed to everyone. We wanted to connect with persons in a fun and relatable way so they could better understand that road, traffic and driver safety is important and can be made fun,” said event organiser Alphonso Grennell.

Title sponsor Desnoes and Geddes (D&G) Foundation, which promoted the Drink Right campaign at its booth, also focused on behavioural change.

“We want you to open your mind and not just hear the statistics, but to make a commitment to change your behaviour,” said Dianne AshtonSmith, Red Stripe’s head of corporate affairs.

“That means speaking up when you’re sitting in a taxi and the driver is overtaking like a madman. It means not walking on the street with your earphones on, completely oblivious to the dangers on the road.”

The D&G Foundation was joined by a number of other stakeholders and sponsors, including the National Road Safety Council, Rubis and Malta, who provided interesting displays, while the Jamaica Fire Brigade gave a demonstration of an emergency response.