The Ministry of Transport is to step up its education campaign and community engagement on road safety as part of efforts to reduce fatalities on the nation’s roads.

Concerned about the number of serious crashes and road fatalities, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) convened a meeting last week to explore strategies to reduce the number of fatal crashes.

Several commitments were made by various stakeholders to tackle the issue.

The Island Traffic authority has committed to putting more boots on the ground, to carryout spot checks on road worthiness of vehicles.

The police, through the head of the highway and patrol division at the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB), Superintendent Lanford Salmon, also committed to increasing their presence on the roads, especially in the yuletide season.

Meantime, the NRSC and the Ministry of National Security will be embarking on another motorcycle training in December, starting in one of the country’s accident hotspots, Mountainside, St. Elizabeth.

Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Floyd Green says road safety continues to be a critical priority of the government.

He also urged the private sector to partner with the government on this drive.

Meantime, State Minister for Transport, JC Hutchinson, says road crashes and fatalities are at an all-time high, despite rigorous efforts by the Transport Ministry to educate persons about safe driving practicing and road use.

According to Mr. Hutchinson, the Ministry has been relentless in efforts to effect behaviour change to help spread road  safety messages.

He states that according to the World Health Organization, drivers aged 18 to 20 years are 3 times more likely to crash than drivers over 30 years.

The state minister says risky behaviour increase with alcohol consumption. These include speeding, neglect to use protective devices such as seat belts and helmets  and other reckless driving behaviour.

Road deaths so far this year have surpassed the 400 marks.

Mr. Hutchinson says young people are an endangered specifies

He states that responsibility is key to reducing road crashes and deaths.

He was speaking at a recent town hall meeting.