Police: Ocho Rios crash cars reportedly had dealer plates

The St Ann police have received reports that the two Mercedes-Benz motor cars that were “racing” in Ocho Rios, St Ann, before a weekend crash that resulted in the deaths of four teenagers were fitted with demonstration or dealer licence plates, the police commander for the parish has revealed.

However, Senior Superintendent Carlos Russell, head of the St Ann Police Division, says that has not been independently confirmed.

“That’s the intelligence that we got, but we cannot confirm that,” Russell told The Gleaner on Sunday.

Blue demonstration plates are issued to authorised motor vehicle dealers, importers and garage owners, allowing them to drive unregistered or newly imported vehicles on public roadways to their warehouses or car shows.

However, there have been public concerns about the widespread misuse of the plates, which the police are unable to trace through their ‘SmartChek’ system.

The owners and drivers of the cars remained a mystery to the police up to late Sunday evening, Russell confirmed.

“The drivers would have removed the plates from the vehicles, so it’s taking us a little longer to ascertain the owners of those vehicles,” he claimed.

“We are still doing some investigations.”

‘High speed’ race

Russell said based on the reports received by the police, the two Mercedes-Benz motor cars were racing each other “at high speed”.

“[The] highest level of carelessness would have caused this accident,” he said.

The National Security Council (NSC) disclosed last weekend that it has directed Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to stop issuing the current demonstration or dealer licence plates, citing widespread misuse.

However, TAJ has indicated that it will continue to issue the plates in the short term while a new electronic replacement system is being developed.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz acknowledged last year that TAJ does not have an “accurate count” of demonstration plates in circulation.

The NSC noted that demonstration plates are being unlawfully used as “permission to regularly operate vehicles on public roadways without permanent registration and vehicle identification”.

“This facilitates scammers and other criminals in the commission of crimes and provides an avenue to evade taxes,” it said in a statement.

The four teenagers killed in Saturday’s crash have been identified as Shantana Leonard, 17, a student of Brown’s Town High School in St Ann; Kenneil Lyle, 16, a student of Iona High School in St Mary; Marcodine Maxwell, 16, student of Oracabessa High School in St Mary; and Rajani Abdul, who also attended Oracabessa High.

Lyle, Maxwell and Abdul were passengers in the third car involved in the crash, which was being driven by Leonard, according to the police.

The Ministry of Education is expected to deploy grief counsellors to the schools today to provide support to teachers and students.

The St Ann police report that the two Mercedes-Benz motor cars were travelling along DaCosta Drive at a very “high speed” when one of the luxury vehicles attempted to overtake the other.

It reportedly ventured into the path of the oncoming Toyota motor car with the teenagers, crashing into the left front section and forcing it into the right lane.

The other Mercedes-Benz also crashed into the Toyota motor car, resulting in significant damage to all vehicles.

The deadly collision comes amid official data up to last Friday showing that 38 people have died on the roadways in St Ann since the start of the year, an increase of seven year-to-date and the highest in the nation.

Westmoreland (33), St Catherine (31), St James (26) and Trelawny (25) are next, according to data compiled by the Island Traffic Authority.

A total of 291 people have died in motor vehicle crashes nationally since January this year, a nine per cent decrease when compared with the corresponding period last year.

The police commander for St Ann blamed the “high level of careless driving” for the increased road fatalities in the parish.

“You have some areas that are known, for example, the Llandovery main road and the Queen’s Highway. You find that once the drivers reach these roads, … they try to drive at high speed,” he said.

Russell said the police have issued “thousands of tickets” on these roadways and instituted numerous measures to curb the indiscipline among drivers.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com