MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The Island Traffic Authority (ITA) has vowed to increase its mobile scale operations in order to clamp down on overweight vehicles, which it says are major contributors to deplorable road conditions and motor vehicle crashes.

Kenute Hare, director at the ITA, told the Jamaica Observer last week that the operations are now being done on the north coast and will soon be increased on the south coast.

Opposition spokesperson on transport Mikael Phillips, head of the Manchester police Superintendent Lloyd Darby, and sub-officer in charge of the St Elizabeth traffic department, Corporal Albert Simpson pointed to issues of enforcement in weighing trucks and tractor-trailers.

Hare, in responding to concerns that inexperience, overweight and defective vehicles are among the main causes for fatalities on the crash-prone Spur Tree Hill main road in Manchester, said there will be a ramping up of enforcement.

“We should intensify our operations in that corridor — the whole southern section of the country from St Thomas go straight to Westmoreland,” he said.

He added that the ITA is equipped with two mobile trucks that can do weight-enforcement operations.

“We are fully committed to intensifying our weight-enforcement operations to ensure that the road network is safe for all road users,” he said.

There was a recent suggestion that escape lanes be built on the Spur Tree Hill main road for out-of-control trucks.

However, a senior cop, who asked not to named, suggested that the crashes on Spur Tree main road can be minimised if truckers adhere to the legal laden weight limit assigned to their units.

“When the trucks crash on Spur Tree and the load is removed — take for instance, a truck carrying cases of water and soft drink — the weight for the amount of cases taken from the truck far exceeds its legal capacity,” he said.

Hare is urging operators of vehicles transporting goods to ensure that there are doing so in compliance with the Road Traffic Act.

“Don’t overload these trucks so much that things spill on the road, because it can have serious safety implications for other road users,” he said.

Phillips further pointed out that greater enforcement is needed.

“Part of the challenge that we have, just generally as a country and as Government, is that whenever a situation becomes a national problem then we do a knee-jerk reaction to it,” he said.

“We had the problem with overweight vehicles. The Government had put in a fixed site at Harbour View then they had invested in portable scales, but then if there is no enforcement then whatever laws we put in place or regulations, are non-effective,” he added.

A weight scale came into operation at Harbour View in November 2012 after then government officials complained that heavy-duty trucks loaded with material were destroying the main road from St Thomas to Kingston.

Phillips likened the situation to other road traffic breaches.

“It is a similar situation with crime and the tinting of vehicles, and the police went out there, they did the enforcement, but then there is no follow-up, so if you look at even regulations to the new Road Traffic Act, if there is no enforcement then the Act itself will come to nought,” he said.

He said the situation with overweight vehicles has not been dealt with on a sustained basis.

“We are having the problem with vehicles putting too much [pressure on the road surface], especially the ones [transporting] aggregates and there is no covering on the vehicle or it is tattered. You [then have] the situation where they dump out the aggregate on the road, the road surface is damaged, and nothing then comes of it,” he said.

Phillips added that it is a situation of enforcement and not just one that requires investment.

“You can invest and not enforce and still don’t have the desired result which you are looking for,” said Phillips.

Darby, in speaking on the matter, said that the Manchester police have not seen any frequent occurrences of spillages from trucks.

“We had a recent incident where a truck loaded with cement, like it was not packed properly and the load shifted. Some of the cement [bags] fell off. It caused us to be calling the fire brigade and other units to clear the road,” he said.

He added that spillages also result from crashes on Spur Tree Hill.

Additionally, Darby said the police are not able to carry out the function of weighing vehicles as they were informed that the scales used by the ITA were not functional.

“As it relates to the scale, the last time we requested for an operation with the examiners using the scale, we were told that it is not functional, that it needs servicing. We are not able to carry out the function of weighing the load while they are out there traversing, [and] that is a duty that has to be done with certifying officers and the scale,” he said.

Moreover, Simpson said the St Elizabeth police are having a major issue with overweight trucks, especially on the Black River Bridge.

“[St Elizabeth] is full of quarries and the trucks are overloaded. They are damaging the road surface, especially those going over the bridge. [It] is built to accommodate a certain amount of weight, so when the people load the trucks like that and go over the bridge, it is causing problems,” he said.

“We have all instances where trucks even [get] stuck on the bridge,” said the traffic cop.