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Clarendon carnage
Published: Friday | February 4, 2011 13 Comments
Two men assist in putting the mangled remains of this Honda Civic motor vehicle on a wrecker. The car was involved in a crash on the Bustamante Highway, Clarendon, yesterday. All four occupants, including a baby, died. - Photo by Jermaine Francis
Three-month-old among four persons to lose their lives in Bustamante Highway collision
Jermaine Francis & Arthur Hall, Gleaner Writers
LESS THAN five minutes after members of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) went into their monthly meeting to examine additional strategies to reduce road fatalities, news broke yesterday that four more persons had lost their lives in yet another motor-vehicle crash.
The NRSC members, led by their chairman, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, were at Jamaica House to sign a road-safety charter with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) as part of the 'Save 300 Lives Programme'.
Vice-chairman of the NRSC, Dr Lucien Jones, opened the 10 a.m. meeting with a welcome announcement - the number of lives lost on the streets up to yesterday was 10 fewer than the corresponding period last year and 14 fewer than 2009.
But as the signing ceremony ended and the NRSC members moved into their meeting, news started to filter into Jamaica House about the deadly crash on the Bustamante Highway.
Family members killed
When the facts were sorted, it was confirmed that 21-year-old Amanda Cross, her common-law husband Maurice Myrie, 34, their three-month-old baby Mauranda Myrie; all of Old Harbour, St Catherine, and 31-year-old Andreen Hamilton of Moreton Park Road, Kingston 10, were dead.
The police say about 10:20, the three family members were passengers in a silver Honda Civic motor car that was being driven by Hamilton towards Mandeville.
According to the police, Hamiltonattempted to overtake a line of vehicles when the Civic collided with a white Mack trailer truck in the vicinity of Carren's Car Rental.
When the Gleaner team arrived on the scene, firemen and members of the police force were seen removing broken pieces of the Honda Civic from the roadway.
With the car parts strewn all over the scene, the blood-splattered seats told a gruesome tale.
Aaron Williams, a resident who lives close to the Bustamante Highway, said he heard a loud noise and ran out of his house to see what was happening.
"One thing is for sure, this is one of the most gruesome accidents I have ever seen on this stretch of road and I have seen many here," Williams said.
Struggling to cope
Sabrina Stewart, Cross' cousin, told The Gleaner that her family was struggling to cope with the deaths.
Stewart said Cross' mother, Judene Cross, was taking the news extremely hard.
"From she (Judene) hear, she faint and dem had to take her to the hospital. We are going to the morgue now to look at the bodies," a distressed-looking Stewart said while trying to get directions to the morgue.
The collision yesterday took place about 300 metres from the premises where four persons lost their lives three weeks ago after an out-of-control motor car crashed into a group of mourners attending a wake. The vehicle was allegedly being chased by the police.
The latest incident on the Bustamante Highway has prompted the Clarendon police to issue an appeal to motorists to apply caution on that stretch of road.
'Preventable cause of death'
That was similar to an appeal made minutes earlier by Golding as he addressed the NRSC signing.
"It is sometimes assumed that once you have roads, you have accidents and we (NRSC) would like to challenge that notion.
"Road accidents perhaps represent the most preventable cause of death. We don't have to have a single accident if every road user obeys the rules and uses the roads with care and consideration for others," said Golding, even as he noted that defective vehicles pose a problem.
Golding's position was underscored by PSOJ President Joseph M. Matalon who committed his organisation to the road-safety charter for employers.
"The tremendous impact of fatalities from road crashes results in missed opportunities for real growth in our gross domestic product and, although rates have been declining ... we still have a long way to go," Matalon said.
Three hundred and seventeen people lost their lives on Jamaica's roadways last year.
Published: Friday | February 4, 2011 13 Comments
Two men assist in putting the mangled remains of this Honda Civic motor vehicle on a wrecker. The car was involved in a crash on the Bustamante Highway, Clarendon, yesterday. All four occupants, including a baby, died. - Photo by Jermaine Francis
Three-month-old among four persons to lose their lives in Bustamante Highway collision
Jermaine Francis & Arthur Hall, Gleaner Writers
LESS THAN five minutes after members of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) went into their monthly meeting to examine additional strategies to reduce road fatalities, news broke yesterday that four more persons had lost their lives in yet another motor-vehicle crash.
The NRSC members, led by their chairman, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, were at Jamaica House to sign a road-safety charter with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) as part of the 'Save 300 Lives Programme'.
Vice-chairman of the NRSC, Dr Lucien Jones, opened the 10 a.m. meeting with a welcome announcement - the number of lives lost on the streets up to yesterday was 10 fewer than the corresponding period last year and 14 fewer than 2009.
But as the signing ceremony ended and the NRSC members moved into their meeting, news started to filter into Jamaica House about the deadly crash on the Bustamante Highway.
Family members killed
When the facts were sorted, it was confirmed that 21-year-old Amanda Cross, her common-law husband Maurice Myrie, 34, their three-month-old baby Mauranda Myrie; all of Old Harbour, St Catherine, and 31-year-old Andreen Hamilton of Moreton Park Road, Kingston 10, were dead.
The police say about 10:20, the three family members were passengers in a silver Honda Civic motor car that was being driven by Hamilton towards Mandeville.
According to the police, Hamiltonattempted to overtake a line of vehicles when the Civic collided with a white Mack trailer truck in the vicinity of Carren's Car Rental.
When the Gleaner team arrived on the scene, firemen and members of the police force were seen removing broken pieces of the Honda Civic from the roadway.
With the car parts strewn all over the scene, the blood-splattered seats told a gruesome tale.
Aaron Williams, a resident who lives close to the Bustamante Highway, said he heard a loud noise and ran out of his house to see what was happening.
"One thing is for sure, this is one of the most gruesome accidents I have ever seen on this stretch of road and I have seen many here," Williams said.
Struggling to cope
Sabrina Stewart, Cross' cousin, told The Gleaner that her family was struggling to cope with the deaths.
Stewart said Cross' mother, Judene Cross, was taking the news extremely hard.
"From she (Judene) hear, she faint and dem had to take her to the hospital. We are going to the morgue now to look at the bodies," a distressed-looking Stewart said while trying to get directions to the morgue.
The collision yesterday took place about 300 metres from the premises where four persons lost their lives three weeks ago after an out-of-control motor car crashed into a group of mourners attending a wake. The vehicle was allegedly being chased by the police.
The latest incident on the Bustamante Highway has prompted the Clarendon police to issue an appeal to motorists to apply caution on that stretch of road.
'Preventable cause of death'
That was similar to an appeal made minutes earlier by Golding as he addressed the NRSC signing.
"It is sometimes assumed that once you have roads, you have accidents and we (NRSC) would like to challenge that notion.
"Road accidents perhaps represent the most preventable cause of death. We don't have to have a single accident if every road user obeys the rules and uses the roads with care and consideration for others," said Golding, even as he noted that defective vehicles pose a problem.
Golding's position was underscored by PSOJ President Joseph M. Matalon who committed his organisation to the road-safety charter for employers.
"The tremendous impact of fatalities from road crashes results in missed opportunities for real growth in our gross domestic product and, although rates have been declining ... we still have a long way to go," Matalon said.
Three hundred and seventeen people lost their lives on Jamaica's roadways last year.
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