Editorial | Traffic crashes a public health, economic policy matter

The “huge surge” in the number of motorcycles on Jamaica’s roads in recent years, might, as Lucien Jones suggests, be a major contributor to a sharp rise in traffic fatalities. The hike, we believe, also points to policy weaknesses that require deeper analysis, and urgent attention, from Government. Put differently, the Holness administration must see the spiral in traffic crashes not only as social and welfare tragedies, but as a failure in law enforcement as well as burgeoning public health and economic crises.

According to the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), up to December 16, there were 410 deaths from traffic-related crashes in Jamaica, or a 3.3 per cent increase on the 389 for all 2018, fifteen days before the close of 2019. This is the first time that traffic deaths have gone beyond 400 in 17 years, since 408 in 2002. If the trend continues, it will mark a return to the situation that inspired the formal launch of the NRSC 26 years ago.

Of the road-traffic deaths, so far, this year, the largest group, 122, or 30 per cent, were either motorcycle drivers, or their passengers, followed by pedestrians, who accounted for 97, or 24 per cent. But what has happened with motorcyclists is particularly significant. In the six years to 2018, deaths related to this mode of transport rose 257 per cent, to 116, and have already set a new record this year.

As Dr Jones, vice-chairman of the NRSC – of which Prime Minister Andrew Holness is the titular head – pointed out, the rise in motorcycle crashes coincided with a big influx of these vehicles into Jamaica, mostly in the western parishes, where they are particularly prevalent and are often used as taxis. But despite the requirement by law that motorcycles be licensed and their drivers wear helmets, their regulation, like most things relating to law enforcement in Jamaica, is lax.

For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the wearing of helmets could lead to a 42 per cent reduction of fatalities in motorcycle crashes, and a 69 per cent fall in serious head injuries. Yet, only six per cent of bike drivers and two per cent of their passengers, the WHO estimated in its 2018 report on road safety, regularly wore helmets. The counter-factual analysis would suggest that had all Jamaican motorcycle drivers, and their passengers wore helmets, perhaps up to 50 of those who died in crashes last year would still be alive.

LONG-TERM IMPACT

Then, there are the other reasons for the Jamaican authorities to take road traffic crashes seriously. In 2017, they were the ninth major cause of premature deaths in Jamaica, ahead of breast cancer, and after lung cancer, moving from 11th place a decade earlier. There are not immediate available data on the cost of treating crash victims in Jamaican hospitals, but nearly a decade and half ago, it was estimated at around J$500 million annually, plus another J$200 million for aftercare. More than likely, taxpayers embraced the bulk of that bill.

More critical is the long-term impact of traffic crashes on the economy over the medium to long term. Most victims tend to be in the prime of their working lives, when they would be expected to make significant contributions to national output, which is curtailed by death or injury. There is no specific cost for this in Jamaica.

However, a 2018 World Bank analysis, financed by Bloomberg Philanthropies – using India, China, Thailand, the Philippines, and Tanzania as case studies – suggested that by reducing road fatalities by 10 per cent, low- and middle-income countries, in which group Jamaica falls, could add between seven and 22 per cent to their per-capita GDP over a 24-year period.

The bottom line: Jamaica needs new approaches to tackling the road traffic problem, including placing it at the centre of economic policy.