MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Police here are imploring motorists to adhere to the speed limit and for truckers to engage low gear on the Winston Jones Highway, following two crashes involving three trucks.

The accidents happened metres apart, above a mud lake, between Thursday night and Friday morning, resulting in two truck drivers being hospitalised.The accidents caused traffic on the busy road to be temporarily detoured. Utility poles were also downed by one of the trucks — equipped with a cement mixer — leaving scores of households without electricity most of Friday.

A source told the Jamaica Observer that during an effort to separate the mixer from the truck using a torch, hours after it overturned on the highway, the unit caught fire.

“We are warning motorists, especially truck drivers, to engage low gear before you descend the Winston Jones Highway; by doing this we can prevent some of these accidents from happening,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Colin Johnson.

The senior police officer said the highway is accident-prone. “Apart from trucks others [motorists] use this thoroughfare for speeding. We warn motorists, including taxi drivers, to observe the speed limit along this thoroughfare,” said Johnson.