Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter
STRONGER MEASURES to force motorists to conform to road traffic laws should be implemented and persons involved in repeat collisions should be made to pay for their repetition, according to Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of Traffic Ealan Powell.
SSP Powell's remarks come on the heels of a report presented by Dr. Earnest Pate, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) representative in Jamaica, stating that 16.7 per cent of drivers between the ages of 18-29 have had more than one accident, while 36.9 per cent of those over 30 have also been involved in more than one traffic accident.
"Repeat offenders should be made to pay by disqualifying their driver's licence," SSP Powell told The Gleaner this week.
The senior police official said persons whose licences have been suspended for a period of time, should be retested before being issued another.
SPEEDING ACCIDENTS
According to him, at least 95 per cent of the accidents that have occurred are due to speeding.
SSP Powell revealed that last year alone, a total of 270,000 traffic tickets were issued, 54,909 of which were issued for speeding.
He argued that this was proof that enforcement of the law is not the causative agent for the number of accidents that occur, but rather motorists who refuse to obey road traffic laws.
"We currently have in excess of 50,000 warrants out for persons who have not paid for tickets," he pointed out.
He said the challenge surrounding this is that persons often cannot be found as, on several occasions, they have fictitious addresses on their
driver's licence.
"We need a system to inhibit these persons from making
certain transactions. People shouldn't be able to renew their driver's licences, pay custom duties, license their vehicles or pay taxes unless they can prove to the authorities that they have no outstanding tickets," the traffic division boss suggested.
He added that longer prison sentences could also be a deterrent.
Since the start of the year, there has been a total of 146 accidents resulting in 166 fatalities. This is five more accidents and nine more deaths compared to the same period last year. The majority of these accidents have been attributed to speeding.
