Weekly road fatality rate hits double Jamaica's 2026 daily average, NRSC warns

Authorities responsible for road safety say Jamaica may be on the brink of another sharp rise in traffic deaths after fatalities recorded over the last seven days climbed to roughly twice the daily rate seen so far in 2026.

Dr Parris Lyew-Ayee Jr, who heads the Mona GeoInformatics Institute at The University of the West Indies, raised the alarm on Tuesday during the National Road Safety Council's mid-year review of the National Road Safety Strategy, held at the Office of the Commissioner of Police. He said the latest figures have stirred worry even though total road deaths for the year remain below levels recorded in the two previous years.

"For the year, we are seeing about 0.84 people dying per day. That is down compared to last year and the year before. But what is of concern is that for the last seven days, we've seen 1.71 people dying per day," Lyew-Ayee said.

"The death rate is twice the average for the year. That starts to set off alarm bells for us. We now need to stop that before it gets out of control, and we don't want to wait until it's too late."

Lyew-Ayee pointed out that the uptick is especially troubling with August approaching, a month that has repeatedly brought heightened risk for deadly collisions.

"That was a peak period last year, and we're looking August in the face right now," he said, adding that officials fear the situation could worsen without swift intervention.

Council review work has also identified a recurring spike in road deaths tied to public holidays. Fatalities tend to climb in the days just before and after occasions such as New Year's Day, Labour Day, Christmas, and the Emancipation and Independence holidays.

So far in 2026, only June and July have averaged more than one road death per day. Every other month this year has stayed below that threshold.

Lyew-Ayee said the National Road Safety Council keeps studying crash patterns through seven-day, 30-day and month-over-month comparisons to spot new trends early and respond quickly.

"We're not going to wait until December 2026 to fix this," he said, emphasising that the aim is to halt the recent rise before it becomes a longer-term increase.

The warning landed as fatal crashes continued to take lives in separate incidents across the island.

On Monday night, Irie Blake, 19, a mason from Sandy Bay, Hanover, succumbed to injuries from a two-vehicle collision along the Orange Bay main road in Green Island.

Less than a day later, on Tuesday night, Dante Griffiths, 42, of Sign in the Irwin district, St James, died in a single-vehicle crash in Summit, Ironshore, near the Texaco service station — further evidence of the steady human cost on Jamaica's highways and community roads.