Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Stephen Williams, a school warden, shows students of the Spanish Town Primary School in St. Catherine the correct way to use a pedestrian crossing. Occasion was the Scotiabank Road Safety in Schools Campaign, held yesterday in collaboration with the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Bustamante Hospital for Children. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:

Dr. Dayanand Sawh, orthopaedic surgeon at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, yesterday implored students to use proper traffic signals such as pedestrian crossings in order to reduce injuries received as a result of motor vehicle accidents.

He made the appeal while pointing out that the Govern-ment was paying about $2 billion annually to care for children injured in vehicular accidents.

More difficult to treat

Dr. Sawh told the gathering at the Spanish Town Primary School that in 2005 more than 12,000 people were injured in motor vehicle accidents, or 35 per day. He said five of these 35 were children. Dr. Sawh noted that it was far more difficult to treat children than adults. He was addressing the Scotiabank Road Safety in Schools campaign.

Yesterday the children were taught the proper way to use the pedestrian crossing by members of the Police Traffic Department. Stephen Williams, a warden at the St. Catherine High School, also illustrated to the children, why they should obey the signs of the warden on duty.

According to Simone Hull, Scotiabank's public relations specialist, the aim of the exercise was to broaden the knowledge base of the students in terms of how they use the road.

"From the statistics of the Bustamante Hospital we realise that the children are vulnerable and that the age group 6-12 is critical. As a result we chose to do the primary schools this time around to help them to cope on the streets," she said.