This is a new column in the North Coast Times that aims to tackle bad behaviour, attitudes and incidents on the North Coast. You can help bring change by sending your comments and responses to editorial@northcoasttimesja.com or our facebook page. We will sometimes include those comments and feed back in Bawl Out. You can also send and notify us about an issue or incident or thing that has been bothering you. We will try to respond.
Illegal extra traffic lane
It’s time police did something about the regular creation of a lane of traffic or use of a second lane, to make three, on two lane roadways. This is a common occurrence and police must bring a stop to it. The latest display of this, now routine illegality, came in the traffic going to Rebel Salute Saturday night at Priory/Richmond Estate. Bus operators, taxi operators and private motorists formed a third lane, ‘undertaking’ the traffic westbound between the roundabout at St Ann’s Bay and the Priory Traffic light. This is allowed to happen too often. Motorists who obey the rules get stuck in traffic for one reason or other and then see others get out the lane or just decide to make another line down the unbroken white line or on the inside (soft shoulder) of traffic.
Every motorist in Jamaica and passengers in public vehicles have seen this all over the place. It must stop.
Police can stop it, whenever there is a crash or a big event or whenever road works cause delays, such as recently when there were half hour delays at Old Fort Bay, the new roundabout for the North/South Highway exit/entry at Mammee Bay.
Cops simply need to move up and down the road a little from the point of congestion and deal with the law breakers who pose a danger to everybody else. It must stop, It must become a target of the police.
Why must it stop?
1. It tells motorists following the rules that they are stupid to wait in line while others can just bypass them without saction
2. It is dangerous, the soft shoulder is not meant for overtaking. Nor is the unbroken white line.
3. It is illegal – against the Road Traffic Act – to use the soft shoulder or create a middle lane on a two-lane highway or road way.
4. To spit on the law like this and get away means you can break some other law too…and get away.
5. It makes it seem we have no police or they don’t know the law or can only use speed guns.
Bawl Out, it must stop.
