Drivers in ill-fated crash had more than 200 traffic tickets – SSP Lewis

There is a development concerning the probe into Wednesday’s motor vehicle crash in Chudleigh, Manchester, which claimed the lives of four students of the Holmwood Technical High School.

It has been discovered that the two bus drivers involved in the mishap had racked up more than 200 traffic tickets while operating public passenger vehicles. This was revealed Wednesday night by Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis, head of the Police Traffic Department.

“This is the first time I’m gonna make this public. Omar Bennett, since the 1^st of January 2011, that man has been issued with 115 traffic tickets, and all 115 are PPPV-related. The other man, Gayle, he was issued with 105 tickets, from November 2010, all of them for PPV (related offences),” said SSP Lewis. The senior cop was addressing the monthly meeting of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

One of the drivers involved in the crash is in police custody. The second driver is being treated in hospital.

And the mother of one of the injured Holmwood students has expressed concern about the type of driving exhibited by public passenger vehicles in the area. Devolin Forrester disclosed on Wednesday evening that she has considered seeking a transfer for her daughter to another school because of the dangers related to the driving practice she has observed on the bus route to Holwood. She said when she considers the behaviour of the bus drivers on the Mandeville to Holmwood route and what has been taking place with the number of accidents, she has to consider what the best move is for her child. Ms Forrester was speaking on RJR’s Beyond The Headlines on Wednesday.

Regarding the five students still in hospiral, Paul Bailey Principal of the school, told RJR News that while four were doing "quite well",  one was "still in a serious condition.”

Mr. Bailey disclosed that students at Holmwood will receive additional counselling Thursday.

“We will continue with some grief management… a counselling team from the ministry of education (Region Five) will be coming up along with guidance counsellors from the neighbouring schools,” he said.

In the meantime, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) will this Thursday and Friday provide temporary service from Mandeville to Christiana. Colin Campbell, JUTC managing director, explained that the service is a part of efforts to assist students recover from Wednesday’s traumatic events.  

“We will be providing a bus, really from Mandeville along the main road to Christiana and back, hopefully twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon on Thursday and Friday. This is just part of helping the kids in their own coping mechanism and their own recovery from such a trauma,” said Mr Campbell.