We must all commit to safer road practices – Shaw
REDUCING THE carnage on Jamaica’s road will require much more that the pending road traffic regulations but more importantly, a significant buy-in from all who travel on the nation’s road who must commit to safer practices, Minister of Transport and Works Audley Shaw declared last Saturday.
He told a prayer breakfast hosted by the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services at the Boulevard Baptist Church that the regulations are awaiting a few amendments for final approval, but that the new laws alone will not cut the number of road deaths and injuries.
“In the pursuit of safety on the roads, one person can make a difference and if everybody, including all taxi drivers, private drivers, if everybody were just to look in the mirror before you go out and start driving and say, ‘I am going to make a difference in driving’. That is where it begins, each individual taking responsibility for road safety,” he told the prayer breakfast. The event was in keeping with the United Nation’s Global Road Safety Awareness Week, which is being observed under the theme ‘Partnership for Peace on our Roads’.
A person is killed on the road every 24 seconds, according to global data, Shaw told his audience, adding that these are frightening statistics, with at least two persons killed every minute. The real tragedy, however, is that the anguish usually extends well beyond the person killed. In addition to the immediate family, he said that the negative impact extends to the country’s productivity and is reflected in the economic fallout.
Addressing road carnage, therefore, cannot be the job of the Government alone, Shaw stressed, pointing out that speeding and human error are the two main causes of traffic crashes
SAFER ROADS
“Road safety is a wide-reaching topic that must be addressed by the wider society. It’s not only the Government’s responsibility to make roads safer, nor is it only the responsibility of motorists. It is the responsibility of motorcyclists, pedestrians, parents who will send their children out into the world. It is every single person’s responsibility, we cannot do it alone and we shouldn’t have to,” he appealed.
“I want to use this opportunity to say to every driver in Jamaica – driver of public passenger vehicles, including taxis, drivers of private vehicles – let all of us draw up our socks. If each of us commits ourselves to decency and respect on the road, we are going to see an immediate change, literally overnight. It is not the regulations alone that’s going to do it. More importantly, we must have the discipline and co-operation by all operators of vehicles in the public and private sectors.”
As at Wednesday, the National Road Safety Council reported that 176 persons had been killed on the roads, four per cent less than the corresponding period last year when the country reached an alltime high of 487 road deaths.