Director of the Road Safety Unit, Kenute Hare, said although he was pleased with the overall decline in child fatalities over the years, the numbers are still unacceptable.

Twenty-one children were killed in crashes, in 2008. This, he noted, was the lowest recorded in a number of years and represented a 56.25 per cent decline from 48 deaths in 2002.

The Director attributed this steady decline to the entrenchment of Road Safety Education in schools.

Relentless drive

The Unit, he said, visits at least 15 primary schools per month, as part of a relentless drive to ensure that every child across Jamaica is fully educated in road safety matters. This, he noted, is a sustainable programme that should reach every primary school in the long term.

"We are using the children as a catalyst to bring road fatalities down. We know that children have a profound influence on their parents and guardians, and we are empowering them with the relevant road safety techniques and practices, things that they should look out for and to challenge their parents to make proper decisions," he explained.

Ministries commended

Hare commended the ministries of Education, Transport and Works, and National Security for their various collaborative efforts in bringing road safety to the schools.

"Let us cut the high cost that the Ministry of Health is incurring to treat traffic injuries. Moreso, let us try to reduce the grief that families face because their loved ones are killed or injured in a traffic collision," he implored.