Garth Rattray | Gross images don’t abate road madness

There is a disgusting and ever-growing, macabre fascination with images of gruesome deaths from killings and crashes of all kinds. I recall many years ago when a rather lovely and hard-working young lady used to sell the Gleaner and Star in Half-Way Tree. She was there every single day; even through two of her pregnancies. She was extremely pleasant and braved the wettest and the hottest days.

No one seemed to take any special notice of her; no one sought to capture her image and post it on social media extolling her virtues and praising her sacrifices for her family. She was an unnoticed and unknown individual, until a large truck malfunctioned and ploughed into her as she stood on the nearby sidewalk. The extended lugs of the front wheel mangled her body and killed her instantly. It was only then that blood-lusting perverts went in for close-up pictures of her against the wall – all helpless, exposed, torn apart and dead.

The more horrific the scene, the larger the crowds and the more pictures it generates on the World Wide Web. Everyone that I know fears having their dead bodies photographed after a terrible crash, or accident. It is disrespectful and cruel. I can’t fathom why anyone would do such a thing, knowing that they would hate if anyone did that to their loved ones or to them.

I sought to come up with any benefit to be derived from the macabre practice of posting pictures of crash victims on social media. I thought that, perhaps when people see those images, at the very least they would experience a modicum of introspection and take more care on our roads. Well, I was very wrong. Since grisly images do not dissuade bad driving, I must conclude that their persistence on social media has nothing to do with the lame excuse of warning road users of the possible consequences of their dangerous, careless driving and excessive speeding. Obviously, ghoulish images are only for sensationalism and appeases some sort of sick pleasure. I long for the day when a law is drafted to make it illegal to distribute ghastly images of injured or dead victims on the Internet.

It was only a few days after that horrific, fiery crash on the North Coast Highway, near to Discovery Bay, that I witnessed a driver travelling at a high rate of speed, running over road markings, overtaking long lines of traffic, and forcing oncoming vehicles to take to the hard shoulder for refuge. I wondered if he was in a hurry to save someone’s life, but then he suddenly stopped to let off a passenger. A few kilometres afterwards, I saw several vehicles ignore red lights as if they were mere suggestions; other road users had to yield in order to avoid collisions.

NASTY HABIT

The nasty habit of turning left on the red lights that have no filter has not only become commonplace, but also evolved into turning or proceeding through any red light whenever the way seems clear, or the other driver seems timid and willing to surrender his/her right of way. Motorbike operators and pedal cyclists consistently pause only briefly at red lights then proceed through, sometimes challenging motor vehicles for use of the road.

Imbeciles use their vehicles like weapons to intimidate law-abiding drivers and launch their way into whichever stretch or roadway they wish to occupy. And so, I seethe at the rampant indiscipline, disrespect, ignorance, selfishness, carelessness and bullying all over. I can’t help but marvel at the near misses and blatant miracles everywhere on our roads. I am grateful for my dashcam and for the Drive Safely app from the Transport Authority of Jamaica. I never fail to do my part to report bad drivers.

But nothing seems to scare people who use the roads irresponsibly. Despite macabre pictures of traffic fatalities all over the social media, increased police vigilance, new, more stringent traffic laws, and the occasional reduction in road usage due to COVID-19, figures from the Ministry of Transport and Mining’s, Policy, Planning and Research Road Safety Unit reveal that, between January 1 and December 9, 2020, there have been 357 fatal crashes with 400 fatalities. Of the road fatalities, 21 per cent were pedestrians, eight per cent were pedal cyclists, 15 per cent were private motor vehicle drivers, and 11 per cent were passengers in private motor vehicles. It was not surprising to me that a whopping 33 per cent of the road fatalities were motorcyclists. Pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclists and pillion riders were classified as “vulnerable road users”. They accounted for 65 per cent of the deaths on our roads. Motor vehicle passengers made up 20 per cent of those killed on our roads.

The real tragedy is that, unlike accidents, crashes and their resultant suffering and deaths are totally preventable. We need scheduled, theoretical driver’s education at the secondary-school level, and short, to-the-point and sustained multiple social media educational messages aimed at reducing the unnecessary deaths on our roads.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.