Police still probing cause of bus crash on Portmore toll road

 

The police are still trying to determine the cause of Thursday morning's major bus crash along the Portmore toll road which left more than 30 passengers injured, some of them students.

 

Radio Jamaica News was informed that passengers have told investigators that the driver lost control of bus after the left front tyre blew out.

 

Many of the passengers suffered broken limbs and other injuries when the Toyota Coaster bus veered left along a section of the toll road and went over into a ravine, about 7 o'clock.

 

Videos of the incident showed injured passengers exiting the wreckage, while passing motorists came to their assistance.

 

The police reported that more than 30 injured passengers were taken to Kingston Public Hospital and the University Hospital of the West Indies for treatment.

 

High school children were among those injured. The injuries range from minor to serious. 

 

Superintendent Winchester Watson, in charge of the Traffic Enforcement Division at the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) told Radio Jamaica News that an investigation into the crash is underway. 

 

Intensify crackdown on reckless drivers 

 

Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has called on the Transport Authority to intensify its crackdown on speeding and reckless driving by individuals task with transporting public passengers.

 

NRSC Vice Chair Dr. Lucien Jones argued that the recent spate of bus crashes is of major concern to the Council.

 

"We need to look at crashes like this and as our grandparents would say, 'Take sleep and mark death' because the potential for disaster is so powerful."

 

He called for the Transport Authority to step up its monitoring of drivers and ensure they adhere to the number of passengers they are allowed to carry. Additionally, Dr. Jones urged the Island Traffic Authority to ensure the vehicles in operation are safe. 

 

"Maybe not in this case, but there are always reports of drivers speeding along motorways carrying large numbers of passengers and sometimes it's a question of defective vehicles. So we need to make sure that those agencies that are responsible and also the owners of these vehicles and the drivers, make sure that they adhere to the road code," he suggested. 

 

Since January, 121 road fatalities have been recorded in Jamaica.