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NWA Communication Manager Stephen Shaw
By Kimone Witter
Spilled aggregate is being blamed for two more motor vehicle crashes along a section of the Southern Coastal Highway in St. Thomas on Tuesday morning.
According to the police, sometime after 6 o'clock, an SUV was travelling westbound in the vicinity of 14 Miles when the driver encountered gravel, lost control of the vehicle and overturned.
The driver was taken to hospital for treatment.
Shortly after that crash, the driver of a motor car skidded in the gravel at the same spot and crashed into the concrete median.
The fire department cleared the gravel from the roadway.
The police in St. Thomas have warned quarry operators that they can be prosecuted if they continue to overload trucks.
During a police operation on Monday, six truckers were prosecuted for failing to cover their trucks and transporting aggregate on an overloaded truck.
The operation was carried out after a female motorist encountered spilled aggregate along a section of the highway near 14 Miles and crashed into the median.
Communication Manager at the National Works Agency Stephen Shaw is imploring the government to implement a policy for punitive action to be taken against quarry operators found guilty of allowing overloaded and uncovered trucks to leave their facilities.
Mr. Shaw expressed concern about the crashes on Monday and Tuesday morning, noting that they have again highlighted the issue which has been a problem for many years.
"We are joining the police in asking persons not to load the trucks in such a way that they are going to be spilling the material that they are hauling," he said, adding that weigh stations are in place for truckers to check if they are overloaded.
"The challenge has been, the truckers, they tend to want to overload because it is how they get paid. But in doing so you are causing problems for the road itself and you're causing problems for other motorists," Mr. Shaw advised.
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