Wehby calls for more tech to restore order to roads
Published:Saturday | July 30, 2022 | 12:09 AMEdond Campbell/Senior Parliamentary Reporter
Senator Don Wehby has called for the swift deployment of more traffic cameras to bring rogue motorists to book, urging the Government to make it a top priority as the Senate yesterday approved the Road Traffic Regulations.
The regulations will, among other things, give effect to the Road Traffic Act of 2018.
In making his contribution to the debate, Wehby lamented the high fatality rate and injuries caused to Jamaicans as a result of motor vehicle accidents, as well as the high cost to the country.
Between January 1 and July 29, 2022, some 281 road fatalities were recorded across the island. Thirty of those deaths took place in the last two weeks.
He told his colleagues that the use of technology will be a game-changer in the enforcement of the law, noting that a study by the London School of Economics and Political Science had found that speed cameras reduced accidents by between 17 and 39 per cent and fatalities between 58 and 68 per cent within 500 metres of the cameras.
Wehby said that the country has a great opportunity to expand the use of the JamaicaEye in a strategic way to replicate the effective systems in the developed world to help restore law and order.
“The traffic cameras and other electronic devices must be priority one. We need a data-driven traffic law enforcement system so we look at what offences are most prevalent across the island and then deploy technology for the detection and prosecution of these offences,” he said.
Wehby added that lawbreakers must be convinced that if they run afoul of the law, they will be punished.
The government senator said that a study done by the World Health Organization estimates that road traffic crashes cost most countries three per cent of their gross domestic product.
Sharing data on the carnage on the Jamaican roads in recent times, Wehby said that 483 people lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents in 2021, the highest in more than two decades. In 2020, the number of fatalities was 412, falling from 438 Jamaicans who lost their lives in 2019.
In 2021, the insurance industry processed $14 billion in motor vehicle claims, a 10-per-cent increase over 2020. He said that $10.9 billion of this amount – or 77 per cent – represents physical damage to motor vehicles and third parties. Another $3.2 billion – or 23 per cent – was attributable to bodily injury.
“That 23 per cent is significant. Can you imagine the stress that has put on our hospital systems?” Wehby asked.
Providing data for up to June this year, the Government lawmaker said that the industry had claims of $8.5 billion, representing a 21 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2021.
While expressing his unwavering support for the regulations, Wehby argued that if the provisions were not enforced, it would not curb the indiscipline on the roads.
“We in the Parliament can be passing the best laws possible … but if they are not enforced, we are wasting time,” he said.
Opposition Senator Dr Floyd Morris indicated that the regulations should make provision for public transport operators to install hydraulic lifts on vehicles to accommodate people with disabilities.
Morris, who is visually impaired, also suggested that the regulations make provision for designated parking spaces for people with disabilities.