…Office to have dialogue with police regarding possible actions against drivers
The Office of The Children’s Advocate (OCA) is condemning the alleged speeding accident which occurred today, September 25, 2013 in Manchester, which resulted in the death of four (4) students, and the critical injuring others, from the Holmwood Technical High School. The OCA wishes to offer its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased students, as losing a child in this manner is never easy for any parent or guardian. The Office also wishes for the full recovery of the other students who have been injured in the accident.
Children’s Advocate, Diahann Gordon Harrison, noted that the ongoing reports of drivers speeding while transporting children has reached intolerable levels and such practices must end. “Today’s accident points to the wide scale problem of the level of indiscipline and reckless regard for the use of the road by some motorists, especially those who operate in the public transport sector. Operators of these vehicles must understand that they must adhere to the traffic laws, as speeding endangers the lives of both the driver and passengers, and in today’s incident such reckless regard resulted in the untimely death of these children and the injuring of the other students”, Mrs. Gordon Harrison said. She went on further to add her support for calls being made for a bus system for children in rural Jamaica in the medium term and for the Transport Authority to immediately institute measures aimed at specifically regulating bus operators who transport children.”
“The OCA will be interfacing with the Holmwood Technical school body tomorrow (September 26, 2013), as our presence there we believe is critical at this time, as dialogue with students, school administrators, and parents is needed as they come to grips with this most unfortunate and traumatic experience which could have been avoided if more care were demonstrated by these bus drivers. The OCA will also be making contact with the Police regarding whatever actions are to be pursued against the drivers responsible for this deadly collision,” the Children’s Advocate added.
