Overdose of road deaths

The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has raised fresh concern about the spate of fatal crashes, saying that there was an “overdose” on the weekend when another six lives were lost.

They included a teen mother, who died after the Nissan Tiida motor car in which she was travelling crashed along the New Green main road near Mandeville, Manchester, splitting in two on impact.

The police report that Junique Chung, 19, was killed after one of the rear tyres of the motor car was clipped by a Mitsubishi motor car that was trying to get past.

Chung was reportedly thrown from the Tiida after it slammed into a utility pole.

The driver of the Tiida, identified as upcoming entertainer ‘Fresh King’, reportedly suffered a broken leg and was hospitalised.

Five other people were killed in crashes this weekend, pushing the number of road deaths to 150 in 118 days since the start of the year.

“This is definitely an overdose of road deaths,” the NRSC said in a message posted on Twitter.

On average, thirty-five persons have died in motor vehicle crashes each month since the start of the year, according to the latest figures compiled by the road safety council.

NRSC Vice-Chairman Dr Lucien Jones, in a public education campaign dubbed ‘It Could Be You’, has lamented that the number of road deaths continues to rise alarmingly.

The Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport, in its latest report, revealed that road deaths involving motorcyclists have increased nearly 100 per cent, moving to 45 this year over last year.

Jones suggested that a more targeted approach is needed to reduce the number of motorcyclists being killed on the roads and hinted that “a plan is currently under development and will be launched shortly”. However, he declined to give details.

The road safety advocate suggested, too, that some of the provisions in the overhauled Road Traffic Act “would make a big difference”.

He singled out the provision which mandates, among other things, that motorcyclists undergo training before they are issued a provisional licence.