Police probe speeding, lane error in crash that killed four in St Elizabeth

The police are investigating whether speeding and failure to keep left contributed to Saturday's crash along the Font Hill main road in St Elizabeth that left four females dead, including three children.

The collision occurred about 5:30 p.m. and involved a black 2011 Toyota Voxy and a utility motor truck, a white 2013 Freightliner M2 106 Crew Cab, according to the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

The deceased have been identified so far as a 30-year-old female driver, along with three passengers, aged 17, 12 and 10. All were occupants of the Voxy.

In an update Saturday morning, PSTEB said preliminary assessments suggest the crash may have been caused by a failure to keep left, excessive speeding without regard to conditions, and apparent error of judgment or negligence.

Investigations are ongoing.

Assistant Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Rudolph Seaton previously confirmed that firefighters had to carry out extrication to remove the bodies after the Voxy was “totally written off”.

Seaton, who is in charge of the region that covers St Elizabeth, said the brigade received a call about 6:29 p.m. and a unit from the Black River Fire Station in the parish responded to the scene.

He said the driver of the utility truck sustained what appeared to be minor injuries and was taken to hospital.

Seaton urged motorists to exercise extreme caution, particularly at nights.

"We can just continue to call on the citizenry to be extremely careful,while driving on the roadways, especially at night. Because those areas, they are poorly lit and there's no electricity in those areas to make it worse," he said Saturday.

The utility truck is reportedly in Jamaica to help with the restoration of electricity following the passage of Hurricane Melissa in October.

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