Prime Minister Bruce Golding says yesterday's observance of World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims provides an opportunity for Jamaicans to recommit to safe road practices and increase awareness of their vulnerabilities as road users.

Golding is appealing to citizens to exercise greater care and courtesy on the roads, while stemming the tide of indiscipline and wanton disregard for road-safety rules.

World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims, which is observed on the third Sunday of November each year, has become an important tool in global efforts to reduce road casualties.

Yesterday, the prime minister challenged citizens that as they remember loved ones and families who have been affected by road crashes, a commitment should be made to making road safety a way of life. He deemed "unacceptable" and "preventable" the frequency of road crashes locally, as well as internationally.

Golding, who chairs the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), said he was concerned that every three minutes a child dies on the world's roads.

"This is a significant input to the global road-injury burden which claims more than 3,000 lives and seriously disables more than 100,000 people per day," bemoaned Golding. "If this trend continues the day may dawn, where we see road fatalities move from its second place to overtake HIV/AIDS and become the primary cause of premature death and ill health worldwide by the year 2020."

Noting that in Jamaica, since 2002, there have been marginal improvements in reducing fatalities, the prime minister said the country continued to struggle to maintain and improve on the gains made in road safety.

Remember our duty

He emphasised that the World Remembrance Day for Crash Victims should remind Jamaicans of "our duty to protect and show love to each other".

Golding added: "The theme for the observance of World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims is 'Have a Heart, Make Peace in Traffic'. Let us put our hearts and minds to this task and seek peace in all aspects of our lives. Peace in our communities, our homes, schools, relationships and on the road. Life is too precious to waste."

The prime minister continues to endorse the Save 300 Lives Project, which was launched by the NRSC in October 2008. He indicated that the project will coordinate and spearhead improvements to legislation, enforcement, driver training as well as public education in support of behavioural change.

"We unfortunately did not achieve the below-300 goal last year as 343 persons died on our roads. With over 277 road deaths since the start of the year, we are again fast approaching 300. Let us commit to observing the speed limit so that as drivers we can have better control of our vehicles. Obey the traffic lights and signs."

Golding said that as the Christmas season fast approaches, he was appealing to citizens to avoid driving if they have consumed alcohol.

Paula Fletcher, executive director of the NRSC, urged Jamaicans to take greater responsibility for their safety on the roads.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that we engage in safe practices on the road to protect life and limb," she said.

The NRSC develops and implements road-safety strategies and activities, as well as public-education programmes. In addition to the Save 300 Lives Project, the NRSC in partnership with the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) is working at the parish level to promote safety through a recently launched Inter-Parish Road Safety Competition sponsored by JNBS. The parish with the most significant decline in road fatalities this year in comparison with the previous year will win a cash prize of $250,000 to fund a community project of its choice.

Surveillance System

Fletcher disclosed that the new Electronic Traffic Surveillance System is being fine-tuned and "its pilot project will be launched in mid-December." She explained that under the new system, the police will have hand-held instruments for ticket issuing, supported by an automated, interconnected ticket-management system. This will give the police easier access to a database on motorists and any traffic violations that they have committed in the past.

"This new system will allow the police to be more effective in the field in monitoring motorists and ensuring that they comply with traffic regulations," Fletcher said.

Jamaica's observance of World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims took the form of a church service held yesterday at St Margaret's Church in St Andrew.

Since the adoption of the World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims, pursuant to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/5 in October 2005, the observance has spread to a growing number of countries across the globe.

This Toyota Corolla ran into an open ditch along the North Coast Highway. - FILE