For the ninth straight year, Jamaica is on track to record more than 300 road fatalities.

Statistics from the Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport and Works show that up to last week, approximately 289 persons had died in vehicular accidents.

Kenute Hare, a director at the Road Safety Unit, says the organisation has stepped up its dialogue with the police to promote safety measures for the Christmas season, a period when many road mishaps occur.

"December is really a problematic month, so we've had discussions with the police to increase the monitoring of drivers wearing seatbelts and observing speed limits," Hare told Automotives.

stringent

He said with the party scene expected to hit fever-pitch soon, breathalyser tests for motorists will also be more stringent.

December is arguably the busiest period for the police traffic division, especially in Kingston, where increased personnel is usually deployed.

Road fatalities passed the 300 mark before December in 2007 and 2008 when 350 and 343 persons, respectively, lost their lives.

While keeping his fingers crossed for a Yuletide decline, Hare said the odds of there being fewer than 300 deaths in 2009 are high.

"One of our objectives going into this year was to have less than 300 road deaths, but as it now stands, that's going to be difficult," he said.

Hare disclosed that the unit plans to approach the entertainment industry to help promote safety-first tips, starting in December. As well, staffers at the organisation are expected to attend events and distribute responsible driving literature to patrons.

Road-Safety Contest

It is not the first time that local road-safety groups have reached out to local celebrities. In October last year, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) launched its 'Below 300' campaign with well-known figures including Olympic and World Championships sprint champion Usain Bolt pledging support.

In September, the NRSC started the Inter-parish Road Safety Contest in the country's 14 parishes. At the end of the year, it will award a prize to the parish recording the biggest quarterly decline in road fatalities.

The NRSC's road-safety campaigns of the 1990s were successful. Consistently there were more than 400 traffic deaths annually in Jamaica up to 1993, but aggressive initiatives helped bring the figure down to 295 by 1999.

Since 2001, however, more than 300 deaths have been logged annually.