Road users urged to ‘Stop di Foolishness’

Director of the Road Safety Unit Deidre Hudson-Sinclair has appealed to Jamaicans to ‘Stop di Foolishness’ and practise good road-safety habits.

Road deaths have increased by six per cent, when compared to last year. At least 352 persons have been killed due to traffic crashes since the start of the year. Statistics from the Road Safety Unit indicate that vulnerable road users (pedestrians, pedalcyclists, motorcyclists and pillion) account for 63 per cent of the road users killed since the start of the year. Motorcycle fatalities represented 35 per cent of road-user deaths, followed by pedestrians at 20 per cent.

Hudson-Sinclair said that one of the major features of crashes is speeding, “so we really want to address this with ‘Stop the Foolishness’ campaign”.

“We ask persons when walking or driving at nights to practise extreme caution, because visual acuity is lessened at night and we want persons to really be careful when they are manoeuvring the roadway,” Hudson-Sinclair said.

The data indicate that 114 persons have been killed during curfew hours since of the year.