Road Safety Council seeks national push as summer crash deaths climb

The National Road Safety Council has warned Jamaicans after road deaths rose through June and July, urging the government, the opposition and civil society to back a harder drive to cut fatalities islandwide.

Executive director Paula Fletcher made the appeal at a Tuesday press conference at the police commissioner’s office, saying progress hinges on firm political backing.

“We need a strong political commitment. Matter of fact, that was a strong message. We cannot go forward without strong political will,” Fletcher said.

Council officials pressed stakeholders to match the energy and funding given to fighting major crime with equal focus on road safety.

“In the same way that this entire nation, the ordinary man on the street, the working class, the trade unions, the professional class, the civil service, the universities, the church, the media, private sector, the judiciary, and the government, which includes opposition, has been mobilized to successfully drive down the crime rate. We declare that reduction of road fatalities deserve the same kind of national effort,” Fletcher said.

Presenting long-term fatality figures, Dr. Paris Leo A.I. said Christmas, Labour Day, Heroes’ Day and Independence regularly mark troubling peaks. Fatalities have already climbed since summer began, he said, with August still ahead.

“So, Christmas spike, Labor Day spike, Heroes’ Day spike, Independence spike. We’re seeing that. And right now, we’re on the uptick. And we’re not yet in August,” he said.

Independence week is usually among the worst stretches for road deaths. He warned the upward trend is raising anxiety about what August could bring without stronger action.

“You’re seeing in front of us August, Independence. That was a peak period last year. And we’re climbing. We’re looking at August in the face right now. And we are climbing. So, the concern is to see what’s going to happen with us in August if we don’t do something,” he said.

Head of the Traffic Department, Senior Superintendent Lloyd Darby, said police have boosted deployment at event sites and on highways, where speeding and drink-driving are key drivers of crashes.

“The strategy is to go to the bad spots and to effect the detection of moving violations, speed. And whenever we stop a person for speeding, we also do the breath test,” Darby said.

From January to June, police issued 72,079 speeding tickets—more than double the comparable period in 2025—and carried out more than 7,600 breathalyzer tests.