Drivers employed to the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) are to be retrained under a safe driving campaign, Transport, Works and Housing Minister Dr Omar Davies has announced.

The initiative will be undertaken in partnership with the Road Safety Council and the Insurance Association of Jamaica.

"We are going to ensure that the drivers of the JUTC buses are models of courtesy, for correct use of the road, and ultimately, of safe driving habits," Dr Davies said, while addressing a road safety seminar hosted by the Jamaica National General Insurance recently at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston.

courteous driving

He said the commuting public will be urged to assist the process by monitoring the JUTC drivers to ensure their safe use of the road.

He said that as part of the campaign, the JUTC will be imposing the same standard on all its sub-franchises. He said that a condition for maintaining the operating licences will be the degree to which operators conduct themselves.

"Currently, hill routes, among others, are sub-franchised to minibus operators. These operators will be brought under the regime of the safe and courteous driving and correct use of the road campaign requirements of the JUTC," he said.

The campaign will be gradually rolled out to operators, who are licensed by the Transport Authority (TA), and they will also be required to uphold the safe driving standard as a condition of their licence being renewed.

With 49,000 road licences issued by the TA last year, and with the JUTC having approximately 1,000 drivers, the campaign is expected to produce "50,000 courteous and safe drivers, who operate correctly according to the rules of the road," Dr Davies said.