The UK is working with Jamaica to drive down its road deaths

A new partnership between Jamaica and the UK is intended to reduce road deaths in the Caribbean country. This novel agreement on improving road safety forms part of international twinning programme. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD are joining forces for this twinning initiative. Under the programme Jamaica and the UK will promote the implementation of best practices in road safety data collection. The goal of the twinning is to help Jamaica a
April 11, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
RSSA new partnership between Jamaica and the UK is intended to reduce road deaths in the Caribbean country. This novel agreement on improving road safety forms part of international twinning programme. The 2791 Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the 1102 International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD are joining forces for this twinning initiative. Under the programme Jamaica and the UK will promote the implementation of best practices in road safety data collection. The goal of the twinning is to help Jamaica align its road safety data to international standards - as recommended by ITF’s International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group (IRTAD) - as an important step towards more effective road safety policies. Compared with the Americas as a whole, the share of road deaths in the non-Latin Caribbean is currently more than 2.5 times higher than its share of registered vehicles. The Road Safety Unit of Jamaica’s Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing is leading the way on road crash data in the Caribbean. With the help of the twinning programme, Jamaica will be put into a position to share best practices and knowledge with other countries in the region.

The first aspect of the twinning initiative is currently being carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory (777 TRL) and has the financial support of IDB. It involves a comprehensive review of how data relevant for road safety analyses are collected, stored, analysed in Jamaica, and how they are then used to inform road safety strategies and interventions. As part of the review, the TRL team interviewed representatives from the Jamaican Police Force, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of National Security, universities and the Maritime Training Institute. During a one-day workshop, participants were presented with crash data systems and how to devise evidence-led road safety policies to more than 70 participants from seven other Caribbean countries (Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Belize and Guyana) which was organised by IDB.

Under the objectives of the IDB´s Road Safety Strategy for the Latin American and the Caribbean region, the bank aims to support the Latin American countries in strengthening their institutional and technical capacities in road safety throughout activities such this. The International Transport Forum initiated the first road safety twinning programme between Argentina and Spain in 2009, which subsequently led to the creation of the Ibero American Road Safety Observatory. The joint initiative of ITF, IDB and the Jamaican and UK governments forms part of their commitment to the United Nation’s 3439 Decade of Action for Road Safety, which aims to stabilise and reduce the number of global road fatalities, currently at 1.3 million/year, by 2020.

Related Content

  • The UK Highways Agency engages Fugro for Doppler laser surveying
    January 6, 2015
    The United Kingdom’s Highways Agency has awarded its first commercial contract to survey thousands of road lanes using sophisticated Doppler laser equipment. Fugro is driving the project forward, reports David Arminas The Highways Agency Traffic Speed Defelectometer vehicle looks like an ordinary flatbed truck delivering a similarly ordinary steel shipping container. But looks are deceiving. Inside the container is a sophisticated Doppler laser measuring system collecting pavement condition data of the U
    Read More
  • The UK Highways Agency engages Fugro for Doppler laser surveying
    January 6, 2015
    The United Kingdom’s Highways Agency has awarded its first commercial contract to survey thousands of road lanes using sophisticated Doppler laser equipment. Fugro is driving the project forward, reports David Arminas The Highways Agency Traffic Speed Defelectometer vehicle looks like an ordinary flatbed truck delivering a similarly ordinary steel shipping container. But looks are deceiving. Inside the container is a sophisticated Doppler laser measuring system collecting pavement condition data of the U
    Read More
  • Public awareness and engagement key to making roads safer
    April 26, 2012
    Sustained public information campaigns on road safety can play a crucial role in reducing road fatalities on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) roads, according to a UK government marketing professional, whose public communication campaigns have helped reduce deaths on British roads by 45 per cent in the last decade.
    Read More
  • 16th IRF World Meeting
    February 14, 2012
    International Road Community Rises to the Challenge of Safe, Smart and Sustainable Mobility. Songs are like roads - highways to the heart - opening new vistas, new challenges and new opportunities." Singer, Mafalda Arnault's words during a splendidly moving opening ceremony were an apt introduction to the spirit and achievements of what proved a highly successful 16th IRF World Meeting in Lisbon. A capacity audience clapping in unison to the soulful sounds of Fado was symbolic of an industry showing it can
    Read More

Highlighted Content