MINISTER of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz has called for a strong approach to deal with the issue of road safety, which he argued is as serious as other major problems facing Jamaica including crime.

“There is a collective agreement that this situation has to be tackled as is being done in parallel with all other national issues we are facing, whether it is the Ukraine war with the fallouts, whether it is the crime rate or whether it is with what’s happening in the schools,” said Vaz, who was speaking at the Road Safety Awareness Month launch held at Future Energy Source Company Limited (Fesco), Beechwood Avenue in St Andrew on Wednesday.

The event was held in partnership with Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association (JGRA) and the petrol distributing company Fesco.

“We are in a similar crisis to what is happening with the murder rate with weapons and guns. When one drives, and goes about his law-abiding day’s routine from morning till evening and is obeying all road traffic signs and if you stop at a stop light, you see motorcyclist with no licence plate, some of them stopping briefly, some of them not stopping at all. I don’t want to just limit to only motorcyclist or taxis, I call [them] rogue motorists.

“As one who most times drive himself, I see it, and it irks me because I realise that without law and order and discipline, we are no longer a civil society and we need to treat this in parallel to what we are doing and all that we are implementing to fight the monster of crime,” added Vaz.

Up to Wednesday, the Road Safety Unit of the Ministry of Transport and Mining reported that 212 people had been killed in 187 fatal crashes on Jamaica’s roads since the start of this year.

The data indicated that pedestrians account for 21 per cent of the road users killed since the start of the year, private motor vehicle drivers account for 24 per cent, private motor vehicle passengers account for 13 per cent, while motorcyclists account for 28 per cent.

Against that background, Vaz argued that illiteracy of some road users is contributing to the disregard for road safety.

“When I hear the public education campaign — what comes to my mind — how do you educate the uneducated?” he asked.

“I guarantee you, that if you were to do a random literacy test, at all of the checkpoints — that the police and the Transport Authority did individually and collectively — I guarantee you, that you will find people with general driver’s licences, who can’t spell cat or bat. That’s a serious, serious matter because it means that they don’t know the rode code so they can’t obey the road code,” he argued.

Vaz said his ministry is also developing an improved traffic ticketing system.

“The situation in relation to the technology, which is being driven by my ministry, is a priority now for the ministry, to give you the cameras and all the technology that you need to be able to issue the tickets without physically having to stop the motorists which is happening in most First World countries.

“Technology is moving so fast that should not be prohibited in terms of expense. I can commit to you that we will make it happen,” said Vaz.

In the meantime, president of JGRA Dianne Parram pointed to the theme for the 2022 Road Safety Awareness Month, ‘Safe roads, together with safe vehicles, help to keep our children safe’, as she underscored that the nation’s youth are negatively impacted by crashes.

“Whether or not they are directly involved, when parents and loved ones are invoked in accidents, the impact is devastating on children. So far, for 2022, there have been 184 fatal crashes, resulting in 212 fatalities this figure, 11 are children,” noted Parram.