Jamaican roads lack adequate warning signs

The Editor, Sir:

I can never forget the sound of that car crashing on Trafalgar Road early in the morning of July 26. In the few minutes it took me to get to the scene, two young men had their lives snatched away from them. The glow of the street light and the flashing lights of the police cars presented an eerie scene.

The problem is that that stretch of road is one of the roads on which racing often takes place in the early hours of the morning and crashes are frequent at that spot. The loud mufflers on the racers tell the story. How these cars pass inspection or are allowed by the police is another matter.

This strip of road has a double hump located near to the British High Commission and there are no warning signs to that effect. How this has escaped the National Works Agency, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) or whoever is responsible for so long means that someone is lax on the job. There are other similar features at other points of our road system that pose the same type of danger. A vehicle going at speed can easily get out of control after hitting one of those humps.

More signs needed

In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are few warning signs pointing to danger areas on our roads. Sharp curves, precipices, breakaways are hardly ever adequately marked, especially on the older roads, and if signs were once there, they have not been replaced. This practice existed before the scrap-metal trade. There used to be signs reminding foreign drivers to drive on the left. These are seldom seen nowadays.

Road lanes and pedestrian crossings are not marked or promptly replaced even in school zones. Most newly surfaced roads are not marked, and broken-down or parked trucks are often not indicated, yet the police pass them without a word. The number of speed signs between Ferry and Mandeville can easily be counted on one hand, so law-abiding motorists must contend with the taxi and minibus drivers who have no care nor regard for the other drivers or their passengers.

This is one of the most dangerous stretches of roads in the island, yet the police inadequately patrol the area. Most often, a squad of them stand under a cool shade tree with a speed gun, but by then motorists are already warned.

There needs to be modern methods of obtaining driving licences. Reversing between two lines of stones is not good enough for the times. Obtaining a PPV licence should not be as easy as getting a private licence, and licence renewal should not be given without a test, such as a multiple-choice test done on paper or computer. The NRSC needs to educate drivers on new signs which are introduced occasionally and to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes now being carried out.

The new Road Traffic Act seems to be as elusive as the abominable snowman.

We all hope that the fatalities target will still be well below the 300 predicted for this year.

- Trevor Samuels, New Kingston, tasamuels@cwjamaica.com