Reckless motorcycle riders in Negril

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing to share my experiences last month when I was travelling on the south coast from Kingston. On reaching the Little London Police Station in Westmoreland, I saw several motorcyclists passing me with riders not wearing helmets. I decided to count the amount of bikers passing me without helmets. There were 38 of them between Little London Police Station and Negril Police Station.

Closer to Negril, there were more bikers moving around without helmets. To top it off, bikes were leaving the town centre, which is almost at the gate of the Negril Police Station, carrying three or four persons on a bike. Some of them were sitting down sideways on the bike.

There was a police presence at the end of the Negril roundabout, in the vicinity of the police station. None of these bikers, who were in clear violation of the road codes, overloading, no helmet, were being stopped. I must say to ACP McKenzie that it is wishful thinking wanting to see a decrease in road fatalities, especially in Negril, when these bikers are allowed to move freely in breach of the same road code that is set up to avoid road fatalities.

Road safety data is collected at a national level by the Road Safety Unit (RSU) and the Island Traffic Authority (ITA). The Norman Manley Boulevard, a major road in Negril, has been identified as one of the crash hotspot in Jamaica. With the overall fatalities increasing by three per cent for the period January–July 2024 to 2025, the vulnerable road users are pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclists and pillion passengers which accounted for over half of the fatalities.

The leading causes are excessive speeding, failing to keep in the correct lane, improper overtaking and not wearing seat belts and helmets. In THE STAR dated December 23, 2025, there was a subheading on the front page saying ‘Cops concerned about potential crash spike’ where Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr Gary McKenzie, head of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch, raised concerns about the possible increase of road fatalities as the year-end approached.

The Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Road Safety Authority and the Island Traffic Authority need to put a stop to those dangerous practices by the Negril bikers or else numbers of accidents involving motorcycles will be climbing for 2026.

KIRK WILLIAMS