Kamesha once had a need for speed. After losing four friends in traffic fatalities, she is now a National Youth Advocate for Road Safety - contributed

According to police statistics, Jamaica has seen an 18 per cent reduction in child (ages 5-14) traffic fatalities over the past year.

This is credited to the introduction of road safety programmes in the school curriculum, and the work of the Jamaica Constabulary Force in schools.

Unfortunately, the reverse is true in the teen to young adult group. Kamesha Turner, a 2007 graduate from the University of the West Indies, knows only too well the pain of losing friends too soon to traffic fatalities.

"During Christmas 2005, near the border between St. Ann and St. Mary, Ronesh Sinclair, my schoolmate from York Castle High School and a UTECH undergraduate, and his brother were among six persons who died when the car was submerged in water as a result of a traffic accident. In May 2006, Sadik Munroe was on the Laughlands Road near Runaway Bay, racing with another car. A truck was parked on the side of the road, he avoided it by going into the 'canepiece' nearby, but crashed through the windshield. He was not wearing a seatbelt. By July, Mark Delaphena, also of York Castle, was driving fast from Ocho Rios to St. Ann's Bay and lost control of the car in the Mamee Bay area. He and another person died in that collision. In June 2007 Nicole Jarrett was the passenger in the front seat of a car which had a collision in Priory, St. Ann. She was hospitalised and died. Nicole was one year below me at York Castle," recounted Kamesha.

70 per cent male fatalities

More than 70 per cent of annual crash fatalities are male, with a low of 74 per cent in 1998 and a high of 81 per cent in 1997.

In addition, nearly 40 per cent of all traffic fatalities are our men, between the ages of 20 and 39. Not only are males the primary victims, but, according to the findings of the 2006 'Knowledge, Attitude, Practices and Behaviour Survey of Male Drivers in Jamaica', conducted by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) in 2006, male drivers were responsible for the majority of road accidents in Jamaica.

Women however, are not exempt. The Island Traffic Authority driving examiner who tested Kamesha picked up that she too had a 'need for speed'. He did not refuse her a license, but counselled her before she was allowed to leave the depot. Now an advocate for road safety, Kamesha is looking forward to working with her peers in ways that will encourage more young motorists and passengers to be cautious in vehicles.

She was a participant of a recent workshop held to start the process towards the development of a National Plan for Youth Involvement in Road Safety by creating a cadre of youth counsellors who would engage in peer counselling to stem the high prevalence of fatalities among youth.

Pressures on hospitals

The fatalities suffered represent only a part of the gory picture painted by traffic-related injuries which are causing the nation extreme trauma. A JIS report quoted orthopaedic surgeon at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, Dr. M.D. Sawh, on the pressures being placed on the island and, in particular, the health care system. Citing the Ministry of Health's road traffic statistics for 2005, Dr. Sawh said that 13,000 traffic accident-related injuries were recorded for the year, which broke down to five hospital admissions per day. Noting that children were also victims, he said that the Bustamante Hospital for Children would admit 15,000 children this year. "Of these 15,000 admissions, 3,500 will be surgical operations, of which about 1,000 will be emergency operations," said Dr. Sawh.

To encourage greater road safety, call the Digicel number 486-6936 and THE STAR will share your road safety story with others.