There has been a reduction in the number of motorcyclists killed in road crashes since the start of the year when compared to the corresponding period in 2015.
Statistics from the Road Safety Unit show that 58 motorcyclists died compared to 72 last year.
Kanute Hare, Director of the unit, is linking the decline to road safety programmes. Mr. Hare says special focus was placed on western Jamaica where a high number of fatal crashes involving motorcyclists was recorded.
“From Trelawny going straight back to St. Elizabeth, that’s the core of the motorcycle mecca in Jamaica. So we have targeted the area where the motorcyclists are; we carry the message to them at the ground level; we go into the communities; we meet them face to face; we have dialogue and we try and get them to play their roles,” he outlined.
Mr. Hare says infrastructural deficiencies, such as the lack of training schools to learn how to ride a bike and the fact that motorcycles are sold without a helmet, have left these cyclists vulnerable to crashes.
