NEGRIL, Westmoreland – In Westmoreland, known as Jamaica’s motorcycle capital because of the sheer volume of bikes on the streets, unruly riders simply buy other machines when the police seize the ones they are driving.

“Anecdotally, when you look at the volume of motorcycles in Westmoreland compared to the rest of Jamaica, you can tell that we have a lot more and that is even based on the number of seizures that we have had,” Zone Four commander for Little London and Negril Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shaunjaye Mitchell told the Jamaica Observer.

“We continue to seize motorcycles for non-compliance with the Road Traffic Act. Once they comply with the Road Traffic Act, usually the motorcycles are released. But a number of times the owners of these motorcycles don’t even turn up to the station to collect them. So they languish for years until they are disposed of, either through auction or otherwise,” DSP Mitchell added.

This cavalier approach to the rules of the road translates into the parish often leading the country in fatal motorcycle crashes. Three motorcyclists were killed in different incidents between last Saturday and Sunday. Those deaths pushed the number of motorcyclists who lost their lives on the roads in Westmoreland since the start of the year to 15, four more than the comparable period last year.

Year on year, Westmoreland tops the list of motorcycle crashes in the police force’s Area One Division that also covers Trelawny, St James, and Hanover. This despite training programmes which included the distribution of safety helmets.

The carnage on the roads bleeds over into the health-care system.

“Most of these cases are high trauma which requires multiple specialities and surgeries. In the operating theatre, we use a lot of resources and blood products. So when we use a lot of resources for these motor vehicle accidents, we end up postponing elective surgeries,” explained senior medical officer at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, Dr Suman Vamu, who noted that this, in turn, has an impact on bed space.

Head of the Police Area One Division Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Clifford Chambers said bikers are simply opting to ignore the safety lessons being taught and appear impervious to punishment.

“We have meetings to speak to them and we prosecute them for not wearing helmets. Speed, oftentimes, is the main reason why, but yeah, Westmoreland numbers are the highest, in terms of drivers,” he told Observer West.

“So the numbers are higher just the same. The operations are higher just the same. The interception and seizure are high just the same, but we still have this issue simply because they’re not taking into account the calling, the presentations and the reality on the ground,” the area commander added.

He said seizing offenders’ bikes has presented its own set of challenges.

“If you go to each of our stations — be it Negril, Frome, Little London, Sav itself — you’ll see the volume of motorcycles which are there. They have been seized, people prosecuted, and they just don’t come back for them. We have cases where multiple motorcycles have been seized from the same person and they don’t come back for them. They simply buy another one,” explained ACP Chambers.

He is suggesting that measures be put in place to make it more difficult to purchase the machines.

“If it becomes mandated that [sellers] must ensure that proper coverage is there with regards to insurance before the motorcycle leaves a lot, maybe that will help. If we ensure that element is purchased before a motorcycle leaves the lot, maybe that will help. There are so many things that we have to look at, not just the riders but places where motorcycles are obtained,” suggested the officer.