To prevent crashes and deaths on the roadways, Director of the Island Traffic Authority (ITA), Kenute Hare, is pleading with all drivers to obey the traffic rules.
Mr. Hare said crashes on the roads can be decreased, and the ITA has developed safety materials that are being displayed online for motorists to use for their empowerment.
“We want all drivers to drive for the family of Jamaica, and drive for every member of this country,” he said.
He was speaking at the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by several stakeholders in the public transport sector to offer training to public transport operators, at the offices of the Ministry of Transport and Mining, on Maxfield Avenue in St. Andrew.
“When one person dies in a traffic crash, we lose the future and destiny that the person was sent on earth to fulfil, and that stops us from getting that lawyer, that doctor, or that professional,” Mr. Hare said.
Major partners signing the MOU included Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) and the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo).
The MOU speaks to provision of training for the island public transport operators under the Team Jamaica Training Programme.
“We want every person who goes around a motor vehicle to drive for your family. We want all the public passenger drivers to join these training sessions and apply what you learn on the road network. May we make a concerted effort to ensure that no one enters our hospitals because of a traffic crash,” Mr. Hare said.
Training under the initiative will be a project among Team Jamaica, British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC), Transport Authority and TODSS, and will see some 1,000 transport operators trained as Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA) counterparts, First Responders and Road Safety Ambassadors.
Head of TODSS, Egerton Newman, said the training marks a watershed moment for the transport sector, and all public transportation operators should be trained and certified “to carry passengers, and we are making a bold start”.
Mr. Newman emphasised that tackling indiscipline on the roads requires training and obeying the rules.
ITA Director Pleads with Drivers to Obey Traffic Rules
