The Editor, Sir:

The chairman of the Special Constables Force Association, Special Sergeant St George Jackson, is reported in The Gleaner of June 6 as having called on the authorities to end the evaluation of traffic police officers based on the number of traffic tickets they issue.

Thank you, Special Sergeant Jackson, for making that call at your association's annual conference. This confirms what many have long suspected: that the traffic police issue speeding tickets in high volumes both to impress their superiors, and to raise money for the Government. This practice is aided and abetted, in my opinion, by many inappropriately low speed limits set by other departments of government.

The targeting of dangerous and reckless drivers, who cause most accidents, needs more emphasis. The issuing of high volumes of speeding tickets in questionable circumstances has done little to reduce our high rate of traffic accidents. I suggest that more effective traffic policing is needed.

We see many examples of dangerous and discourteous driving every day. Some drivers are ready to take excessive risks or 'beat the system' by overtaking or changing lanes dangerously, boring into a line of traffic while waiting at traffic signals, etc. Traffic police are seldom near. It seems much easier for the traffic police to meet their ticketing 'quota' by setting up their surveillance on a generally safe road with a low speed limit, and 'reap their speeding-ticket harvest'.

There are many roads that fit that description islandwide. One example is the Michael Manley Boulevard between Rae Town and the Cement Company in Kingston, with its 50 km/h speed limit in a non-built-up area. The same dual carriageway from Cement Company to the harbour head has an 80 km/h limit. Both should be 80 km/h in my opinion. During the week, both sections are travelled at 70 km/h-80 km/h, quite safely. You can bet that the traffic police will be out, often on a Sunday, when traffic is light, handing out speeding tickets in high volumes in the 50 km/h section. That makes no sense to me. It breeds disrespect.

ADJUST SPEED-LIMIT ANOMALIES

I recommend that traffic engineers review and adjust the speed-limit anomalies that now exist. Introducing a 65 km/h limit could also be useful for some roads. The knee-jerk reaction of reducing speed limits to help reduce our high rate of traffic accidents has had little effect. Speed may be one element, but it is often not the major cause of an accident. For example, when a driver decides to overtake a long line of traffic while approaching a corner, such a reckless manoeuvre could cause an accident while travelling within the speed limit.

Also, low speed limits that are considered ridiculous tend to breed disrespect for regulations generally, and increases overtaking. The low limits are most often ignored without a very heavy police presence which, I suggest, could be deployed more effectively in the more difficult job of targeting the reckless drivers who cause most accidents.

I am, etc.,

PETER PIPER

Kingston