Joe Issa Expresses Condolences, Urges Caution on St. Ann’s Death CorridorA Story by Sally ShivA crane removing the wreckage of the Toyota Hiace bus involved in the fatal crash along the Llandovery main road in St Ann this morning.A crane removing the wreckage of the Toyota Hiace bus involved in the fatal crash along the Llandovery main road in St Ann this morning. As
people continue to lose their lives on the Ocho Rios to Browns Town main road
in St. Ann, businessman and civic leader Joe Issa, has expressed condolences to
the families of victims in the latest crash this morning while urging drivers
to exercise caution when using that corridor. “As
inviting as that roadway is for speeding, one has to be careful because it’s a
busy corridor and many drivers use it recklessly. I’m appealing to all of them
who drive public and private passenger vehicles, motorcyclist, cyclists, and
pedestrians to exercise caution when using the roadway. “I’m
urging drivers to stop the speeding as the road is heavily used and they can
expect to have to slowdown or stop at anytime and the faster they drive the
less reaction time they will have when called to do so, with the result being loss
of life,” says Issa, a past president of the chamber of commerce in St. Ann
where his Cool Group is located. Issa
was reacting to the fatal early-morning crash along the Llandovery
main road in the parish in which five people are said to have died and several
others injured including teachers and students. This roadway where the crash
involving a Toyota Hiace bus and a Toyota Rav 4 occurred is
between St. Ann’s Bay and Brown’s Town. While
expressing his condolences to the bereaved families Issa recalls in the
interview, the wisdom of an elderly UK top traffic cop, who told participants
at a seminar, “It doesn’t make sense killing yourself trying to get here only
to find out that the seminar has not even started or has been rescheduled or
cancelled…It’s better to arrive late and live to apologize rather than not
arriving at all.” Since
the start of this year, Jamaica has recorded 82 road crash fatalities compared
with 77 for the same period in 2015 and 64 the year before. Motorcyclists accounted for
32 compared with 20 last year for the same period. Pedestrians were next in
line, accounting for 13 of the total fatalities, which was a reduction on the
19 recorded for the same period in 2015. An
article quoted Superintendent Cameron as saying that speeding
was an “apparent” factor in this morning’s crash, adding that the bus which
should have been carrying 12 passengers had approximately 15 people, including
seven children. “It appeared that it lost its drive shaft and some other
mechanical part fell off resulting in the driver losing control colliding in a
vehicle coming in the other direction… then the bus landed in the
soft-shoulder,” Cameron is quoted as saying. “Speeding was an apparent
factor…It’s not for a lack of the police presence on the road.” Several people, including family members of victims in the
crash, who gathered at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital are said to have spoken of the
irresponsible conduct of drivers who ply the Brown’s Town route. In recent times Superintendent Cameron is
known to have expressed concern about the recklessness of drivers plying the
route.
© 2017 Sally Shiv |
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Added on April 22, 2017 Last Updated on April 22, 2017 Tags: joe Issa, Joe Issa Jamaica, Joseph Issa, Joseph Issa Jamaica, Joey Issa, Joey Issa Jamaica, Jamaica, St. Ann’s Death Corridor. Author
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