Tourist dies in St James after being hit by car
Published:Saturday | December 31, 2022 | 10:06 AM
A male tourist has died after being hit while crossing the main road in Ironshore, St James early this morning.
He has been identified as 44-year-old Jevon Amos of Illinois in the United States.
It is reported that Amos was crossing in the vicinity of the popular Blue Diamond Shopping Centre to get to his hotel.
The incident happened around 1 a.m.
The driver of the vehicle did not stop.
He has since turned himself in to the Coral Gardens police.
Stakeholders have bemoaned that the popular thoroughfare is a hotspot for crashes and are calling for the authorities to do more to make the corridor safe.
Amos' death brings to seven the number of people killed in the last three months along the busy thoroughfare, which is famous for street racing in the absence of streetlights.
Several hotel workers have also been injured by cars while crossing at the Blue Diamond Shopping Centre intersection.
“We need rumble strips similar to what has been placed on Norman Manley Boulevard in Negril because this road is a death trap. The streetlights are not working and there is constant racing,” said an eyewitness and villa operator in the area who asked not be identified.
In October, three members of a family, Sandra Lewis Lee, her daughter Savannah Lee and Donna Brown, who were visiting from Florida in the USA, were killed after their car was hit by a speeding driver.
“The traffic is heavy and it is the tourist season. Workers coming from work late at night have died because of indiscipline and the lack of protection of their lives,” he stated, adding that drag racing had become the norm.
Most of the streetlights between downtown Montego Bay and Lilliput are out of commission as well, and this has made driving on the elegant corridor even more dangerous.
“As a man in the tourist industry, it is very sad to see. And it is consistently happening. If it is not next week, it will be in two weeks or next month, but more lives will be lost,” he bemoaned as he called for action.
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