DUNCANS, Trelawny — Trelawny cops have floated the possibility of changing the way they police a crash hot spot on a section of the north coast highway.

The suggestion came Tuesday after yet another fatal crash. It claimed three lives people and left three people injured.

The deceased are 62-year-old taxi operator and Duncans, Trelawny resident Byron Bryan, and 31-year-old Roderick Wray from Samuel Prospect, also in the parish. The injured, said to be passengers in Bryan’s cab, received treatment at Falmouth Public General Hospital.

The crash comes on the heels of another that left four men dead on the Rock section of the corridor on Sunday. Tuesday’s crash pushed to seven the number of traffic fatalities in Trelawny so far this year.

“Last year about this time, we did not have any fatal motor vehicle crash in the parish. So we definitely are in the process of revisiting our strategy to ensure that our motorists comply with the law and the rules and regulations as they use this particular corridor,” head of the Trelawny Police Division Deputy (DSP) Superintendent of Police Winston Milton told journalists at the crash scene on Tuesday.

“We have been prosecuting relentlessly along this corridor. As a matter of fact, during the course of last week alone, we have issued 600 traffic tickets,” the senior cop said.

“We will definitely look at the strategy we have been using because there is a possibility that we now have to insert covert units with uniformed police personnel along this corridor,” DSP Milton added.

He noted that the practice of motorists notifying each other of police spot checks on the road is a major concern.

“One of the hindrances that we have been having is that when we set up our spot checks, motorists are continuously flashing other motorists, indicating our presence on the roadway. Consequently, the motorists tend to slow and then speed after they get past our presence on the road. So we are urging motorists to cease from this practice because the outcome may be what we have today. We are continuously urging our motorists to be careful on the road and abide by the speed limit. Obey the speed signs and save lives. The life you save may be your very own,” said the head of the Trelawny Police Division.

He said it appeared that speeding played a factor in Tuesday’s fatal crash.

“It is evident, based of the damage done to both vehicles, that at least one, or both vehicles, was speeding at the time of the impact. Consequently, we are imploring motorists again to be careful when using this corridor. This is a corridor that has a history of fatal and serious motor vehicle crashes. We know that a lot of motorists tend to have a false sense of confidence. They tell themselves that they cannot be a victim of motor vehicle collision. Consequently, they continue to speed and not heeding the warning that we are giving to them,” DSP Milton said.

According to DSP Milton, about 8:30 am on Tuesday, Wray was driving a Toyota Axio motor car on the Spring Hill section of the north coast highway when he lost control of the vehicle. It slammed into a guard rail on the left of the road and ricocheted into the path of the oncoming Toyota Voxy motor car, driven by Bryan.

After the crash, curious onlookers who braved the consistent morning showers crowded the thoroughfare where they gazed at the two mangled motor vehicles sprawled on the road inside the ring of police yellow tape.

Their attention was also drawn to the dislodged Axio engine which was sprawled on the embankment over the guard rail, as well as pieces of metal strewn on the roadway.

Wray’s father, who also visited the crash scene, was too overcome with grief to comment. He could be seen pacing and staring blankly.

Also among the onlookers was the cabbie’s brother, Oscar Bryan.

“I was at work in office when I got a phone call from my fiancée that my brother was involved in a serious accident up the road. My supervisor gave me permission to leave and while I was on my way, I got another call that he is dead,” said the distressed man, his face etched in grief.

“It going to be hard because actually every day we used to keep in touch. If he does not see me for the day, he would call and say, ‘What happen, you couldn’t give me a call, man?’. He would ask if I am good. Is 10 [siblings] of us — three gone already — but me and the others don’t talk like how me and him talk. He was the closest brother to me,” the National Water Commission employee added.

He described Byron as a good-natured individual who got along well with everyone.

“Him have a whole lot of taxi friends on the road. Right now you don’t even have any taxis running because the whole of dem come off the road,” Oscar Bryan said.

He said his brother has been operating a taxi since 2012 after he returned from Florida.

Orville Williams, a motorist who was among those who converged on the scene, spoke fondly of Bryan.

“Whenever you see him he is just polite. When he is on the [taxi] stand he isn’t in a rush with anybody. Him no in no rush. If him get him load, him get him load. And I don’t know him as a man who drives fast. God know him don’t drive fast,” Williams said.

“I think one of the things that is causing the accidents is that we don’t practise defensive driving, everybody must be first. We just in the speed. I think speed has a lot to do with accident too,” he said.