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PSOJ group demands action on Road Traffic Act

Published:Thursday | December 23, 2021 | 12:08 AM
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Policemen maintain a presence at a crash scene in the vicinity of the Council of Voluntary Social Services building on Camp Road in Kingston, where two taxis collided on Wednesday, December 1. At least one person was taken to hospital for treatment.
Gladstone Taylor/Multimedia Photo Editor
Policemen maintain a presence at a crash scene in the vicinity of the Council of Voluntary Social Services building on Camp Road in Kingston, where two taxis collided on Wednesday, December 1. At least one person was taken to hospital for treatment.
A policeman views the wreckage of Hector Mowen’s Toyota Probox taxicab that was involved in a three-vehicle crash along the Chapelton main road in Clarendon on May 4. Mowen was thrown from the car and died shortly after.
Nathaniel Stewart/Photographer
A policeman views the wreckage of Hector Mowen’s Toyota Probox taxicab that was involved in a three-vehicle crash along the Chapelton main road in Clarendon on May 4. Mowen was thrown from the car and died shortly after.
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Amid rising traffic fatalities, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) Public Safety Monitoring Committee is calling on the Government to respond swiftly by fully enacting the revised Road Traffic Act.

This renewed call follows a report by the Ministry of National Security for the period ending September 2021 which revealed an upward trajectory in the number of road traffic collisions and fatalities. Based on the report, there was an eight per cent increase in road fatalities, with 356 recorded when compared to the corresponding period in 2020, which recorded 331 fatalities.

“The PSOJ firmly believes the Road Traffic Act is a key legislative component in achieving the overall objective of public safety and order.”

The PSOJ is continuing its call on the Ministry of Transport and Mining for the formal inclusion of the Road Traffic Act as a monitored process within the MOU, “even as we note the failure to meet the targets to reduce road fatalities this year”.

According to the PSOJ committee, the various targets by the National Road Safety Council, chaired by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, have been frustrated by the failure to conclude the regulations and have them passed in the Houses of Parliament. “We have seen that the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) is capable of prioritising items on the legislative agenda with urgency – and we believe that the GOJ is duty-bound to take decisive action to curb the lawlessness displayed on our roads,” the committee stressed.

The committee said it also looks forward to the official launch of the Traffic Ticket Management System’s online portal, since it is important to the overhaul of the clampdown on road traffic offenders. Further, the committee said “the completion of this target area will enable traffic offenders to check critical items, including their traffic ticket status, history and demerit points”.

“As we come to the close of the year and the accompanying festive season, we remind all stakeholders of the need for a structured and unified approach in accomplishing our ultimate target of public safety and order,” the PSOJ committee said, adding that it “continues to monitor the targets established for the Traffic Ticket Management System, National Surveillance Programme – JamaicaEye, Noise Abatement Regulation, and road safety”.