Call made for more public education to improve pedestrian safety

 

With the month of June being observed as Road Safety Month, there is a call for more public education to improve pedestrian safety on the nation's roads.

 

Deidrie Hudson-Sinclair, Director of the Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport, said public education is necessary to reduce pedestrian carnage.

 

Speaking Wednesday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, Mrs. Hudson-Sinclair said pedestrians account for 20 per cent of road fatalities.

 

She added that pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, including more crossings and barriers from traffic, can also play a major role in maximising road safety.   

 

"The ITA (Island Traffic Authority) has developed a national pedestrian guideline to really help not only pedestrians, but motorists navigate that space, and it speaks to more awareness that we have to get out there to the general public to talk about pedestrian safety. Because the truth is, facilities for pedestrians are few and far between, and because it's few and far between, whatever is convenient to them, they take that opportunity, and sometimes those opportunities cost and convenience kills," she asserted. 

 

Last week Friday, 29-year-old customer service representative Brittny Hunter was killed in a vehicular collision as she attempted to cross Walks Road in St. Catherine.

 

Ms. Hunter, who resided in Commodore, Linstead, reportedly walked into the path of a trailer head which was being driven along the roadway. 

 

 

In the meantime, Dontae Matthews, Education & Information Officer at the Island Traffic Authority, said many motorcyclists are still not wearing the required protective gear. 

 

"So we're talking about driving the motorcycle without an approved helmet, driving in shorts, driving in slippers, doing stunts on the roadway, overtaking improperly or lane splitting. We have an increased culture of motorcycle fatalities in western Jamaica. So we're talking about Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Hanover. And when you go down that side, you realise that some of them are driving illegally, driving unsafely, and also just driving in a manner where you have to wonder, do these people actually love their life?" he complained. 

 

Mr. Matthews said the Island Traffic Authority is intensifying its public education campaign to sensitise motorcyclists.

 

He was also a guest on TVJ's Smile Jamaica.