Road deaths dip after Hurricane Melissa

There has been a lull in road deaths in Jamaica since the country was battered by Hurricane Melissa, the latest police statistics have revealed.

No road deaths were recorded over a four-day stretch, starting on October 28 when the monster hurricane made landfall in the western end of the country, according to the data obtained by The Gleaner.

That streak ended on November 1 when a 28-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a collision in Junction, St Elizabeth, one of the parishes that was decimated by the category five hurricane.

Excessive speeding, overtaking improperly “on the offside” and turning to the right without due care were cited as possible causes of the crash.

Two more persons — a 25-year-old motorcyclist and a 67-year-old private motor car driver — have died in motor vehicle crashes in St Elizabeth since the passage of the hurricane, the police statistics show.

There have been four additional days when no road fatality was recorded by the police.

As a result, 26 road deaths were recorded in October, the lowest for a calendar month this year and a 24 per cent decrease when compared with last year October.

Nationally, 326 people have died in motor vehicle crashes, an increase of three per cent year-on-year, but four percentage points lower than in September this year.

- Livern Barrett

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