Driving when you are tired
Sleep happens at anytime.  Usually when driver feels sleepy they will open the window, turn up the music etc.  Research has shown that this does not work.  Try these tips instead and see if you get better results. 

• Don't start a long trip if you're already tired.
• Find a safe place to stop if you feel drowsy
• Plan your journey to include a 15-minute break every two hours.
• Try to avoid long trips between midnight and 6am when you are usually asleep
• Drink two cups of coffee or a high-caffeine drink like Red Bull and have a rest for 10-15 minutes to allow time for the caffeine to kick in.

Driving as a learner
Remember, as a learner:

• You must have a learners permit
• You can't drive a car unless you're accompanied by someone who has a full driving licence.
• You must display L on the vehicle
• You're limited to less powerful motorbikes.

New Drivers
Congratulations if you just passed your driving test, welcome to the Jamaican roads.  Statistics show you're most at risk of having an accident in the two years or so after you pass your test - one in five newly qualified drivers have a crash within a year.

Older Driver
Older drivers have more experience and are more likely to be more tolerant and confident too, which can mean they're safer on the road than other age groups.
But your sight, hearing, and judgement may not be as sharp as they were. And driving is more complex and demanding than it used to be, with more traffic on the roads and with drivers speeding at every intersection.
You need to take even greater care, and adjust your driving habits to compensate for any deterioration in your eyesight or judgement. A simple adaptation to your car may help if you have mobility problems.

Medical conditions
If you have a medical condition that could affect your ability to drive safely, including heart problems, epilepsy and diabetes maybe you should take a cab or get someone to drive you.
If you are on prescribed medication, ask your doctor if it could affect your driving.
Refresh your skills
Even experienced drivers can slip into bad habits, so it's a good idea to refresh your knowledge from time to time and keep up-to-date with changes in the law. The Jamaican routes are ever changing, check with someone about a route if you have not driven it for a while, so as not to go the wrong way on a one way road.
Your eyesight
Have your eyes tested regularly, as changes in your eyesight can happen slowly and without you realizing it. It's not advisable to drive if you can't read a number plate from 20.5m (67 feet) away.

Tyre Safety
Proper tyre maintenance is not only critical to the safe operation of your vehicle, but will also improve fuel economy, extend tyre life, provide better vehicle handling, help prevent avoidable breakdowns and collisions, and reduce exhaust emissions that contribute to environmental, health and climate change problems.

The Breath Test

What is the Breath Test?
A breath test is the means by which the breath is checked to find the amount of alcohol in the body.
It is safe and reliable method, to make sure that motorists who drink alcohol and drive do not put other person’s lives in danger.

How is the Breath Test done?
There are two instruments used for breath testing. The first is a Screening Instrument which is a hand-held instrument carried by the policeman on the beat. It does the first test to show:
¨ if there is alcohol in the body, and
¨ if it is above the legal limit
The second instrument is called the Evidence Instrument.
This instrument also tests for the level of alcohol in the body but this second test, gives the result printed on an Evidence Card. This shows:

• Your name
• Your licence number
• The time at which the test was done
• The amount of alcohol found in your body

When is the test done?
If a police officer has reasonable cause to believe that you are driving under the influence of alcohol, then he will ask you to do a breath test.
The officer will ask you to blow into the Screening Instrument.
This will show if you had too much alcohol to drink, that is, if you are above the legal alcohol limit. If the screen test shows that you are above the legal alcohol limit, then you will be taken to the nearest police station where you will be asked to do an Evidence Test.
You will get a printed copy of the results of the test, which you should take to court with you.

Important
The mouthpiece into which you blow, will be used for only one test. It comes in a sealed package and is taken out only for your test. You will not be exposed to any diseases.

What Is The Legal Alcohol Limit?
The legal alcohol limit is the highest level of alcohol which the law allows you to have in you body.
This is determined by the amount of alcohol you drink. Remember that the amount of alcohol which gets you drunk, depends on many factors, for example, your size, weight, sex and whether you ate before drinking.
The law states that the legal alcohol limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath or a blood alcohol level of 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The Blood Test
You will only be asked to take a blood test if you are unable to take a breath test. Blood tests will only be done at a hospital by a medical practitioner or a qualified laboratory technician. A blood test can only be done with your consent. You will not be asked to do a blood test if a breath test has been done.

Penalties
If you fail the breath test, you can, on conviction, be fined up to $3,000 or serve a term of up to 6 months in prison. You can also gain 14 demerit points on your driver’s licence.
If you are caught a second time, you can be fined up to $5,000 or be put in prison for a term of up to 12 months.
If you refuse to do the breath test, you can be fined up to $3,000 or serve a prison term of up to 6 months.

Know Your Rights

• The police officer will not conduct the breath test at random.
• Only one mouthpiece must be used at each test.
• You may ask to see the reading on the screening device
• You may ask to open the package containing the mouthpiece
• Blood tests cannot be done without your consent.
• Blood tests must only be done at a hospital by a medical practitioner or a qualified laboratory technician
• You must be given a copy of the results of the evidence test.

Know The Police Powers
The police have the authority to:

• Stop you if he has reasonable cause to believe that you are driving under the influence of alcohol
• Ask you to do a breath test
• Ask you to do a blood test if you are unable to do a breath test

Notes To Remember
Legal alcohol limit
The highest level of alcohol which the law allows you have to have in your body.
Screening device
A hand-held instrument carried by the policeman to do the breath test.
Evidence Test
The second test done at the police station which gives you the printed results.
Evidence Card
The paper which you receive at the police station with the results of the test.

Remember

• It is dangerous to drink and drive.
• Alcohol affects the driver’s co-ordination, reaction time and the ability to perform different tasks.

An abstract from http://www.nationalroadsafetycouncil.org.jm please visit for more information.

Facts about seatbelts use in Jamaica

 Introduction
A large percentage of the accidents occurring on the roads in Jamaica result in deaths or serious injuries. This no doubt is due to factors such as poor road conditions, driver indiscipline resulting in bad driving habits and the importation of high-powered vehicles.
Similar situations occur in other highly motorized countries, and they are forced to develop and implement devices to minimize death and serious injuries resulting from road accidents.

Seat Belt
One such device is the seat belt which, if used correctly, can reduce traffic fatalities per one thousand (1000) to one fifteenth of the level in accidents in which the occupants are not wearing seat belts (66). The effectiveness of seat belts has been proven beyond a doubt.

How It Works
When a motor vehicle is involved in a head-on collision or subjected to an abrupt deceleration, if you are not wearing a seat belt, you could be thrown forward with such force that striking the steering wheel, dashboard or windscreen could cause death or serious injuries.
On the other hand if the body is restrained by a seat belt, an occupant of the vehicle may sustain primary injuries, which are usually minor.
It is the dynamic energy built up by the body in a moving vehicle which when stopped suddenly causes inertia to throw the body forward, and if not restrained, the secondary injuries caused by the impact can be fatal or serious.
Simply put, if you are in a vehicle going 30 MPH and it is involved in a head-on collision, if you are not wearing a seat belt, you body will continue forward at 30MPH. The serious thing, however, is that the dynamic energy built up by your body causes your weight to be increased six to seven times so that a person weighing 150 pounds will find that the weight of the body impacting on the steering wheel, dashboard or windscreen will be 1050 pounds.

Highlights of the legislation

(i) Child
includes any persons whose size, height or built is such that the person experiences or is likely to experience problems or difficulty with the upper anchorage point of a seat belt

(ii) Child Restraint System
means a seat belt, restraint system or other device or combination of devices designed to diminish the risk of injury to a child, in the event of collision or of abrupt deceleration of a vehicle, limiting the mobility of the body of the child, being a device or combination of devices which
(a) is designed either to be fixed directly to a suitable anchorage or to be used in conjunction with an adult seat belt and held in place by the restraining action of that belt, or
(b) is fitted in the vehicle by the manufacturer and is of a type which complies with such standards as may be prescribed by the Minister by regulations in respect of the shape, quality, construction, installation and assembly of seat belts and other safety belt assemblies and anchorage and child restraint systems

• Front Seat in relation to a motor vehicle, means a seat which is wholly or partially in the front of the vehicle
• Rear Seat in relation to a motor vehicle, means a seat which is wholly or partially in the rear of the vehicle
• Seat Belt means any arrangement or assembly of straps with a securing buckle, adjusting devices and an attachment which is anchored at a point to the structure of the seat of a motor vehicle by appropriate means and is designed to diminish the risk of injury to its wearer, in the event of collision or abrupt deceleration of the vehicle, by limiting the mobility of the body of the wearer

Vehicles To Be Equipped With Seat Belts
Contrary to the belief that every passenger in every seat in every class of vehicle must wear a seat belt, the law sets out the vehicles that must be equipped. While the law implies that a motor vehicle shall not be used on the road unless it is equipped with seat belts, it clearly states that:
(a) Trucks constructed to carry passengers as defined by law must have seat belts on the Front Seat Only. Your vehicle’s registration will help you to know if it is a truck. For the records, trucks include buses, pick-ups and vans of a certain weight. It means therefore that the law requires only the driver and the front seat passenger in a bus, for example, to wear seat belt.
(b) Motor cars, private motor cars and invalid carriages are to be fitted with seat belts in the front seats and rear seats.
(c) Public Passenger Vehicles

• Stage Carriages: on the front seat only - These vehicles are usually buses.
• Express Carriages: on the front seat only - These too are usually buses
•  Contract Carriages: except for trucks, on the front and rear seats - This class of public passenger vehicles can be either truck (buses) or cars hence the exception.
•  Hackney Carriages: on the front and rear seats - This class of carriages is what is referred to as taxis.

Exemptions from Wearing Seat Belt
There are exemptions in the law setting out the conditions under which one would not be committing an offence if he were not wearing a seat belt.

• a child who is being conveyed in a child restraint system
•  a driver while he is reversing
•  a person who holds a valid certificate of exemption prescribed by the Minister and signed by a registered medical practitioner
•  a person riding in a vehicle while it is being used for fire brigade or police purposes
• a person driving or riding in a vehicle constructed or adapted for the delivery of goods or mail to consumers or premises as they case may be, while engaged in the delivery to or collection of such goods or mail from consumers or premises not further than sixty metres from each other

Safety Helmets
The law requires that any person while driving or riding on a motorcycle shall wear a protective helmet of the shape, quality construction or standard prescribed. This implies that the driver of the motorcycle as well as the pillion passenger must wear helmets.

Who Will Be Charged For Breaching The Law

• No seat belt on a seat in motor vehicle – the driver of the vehicle
• Driving without wearing a seat belt – the driver of the vehicl.e
  This implies that if a person is driving a motor vehicle without a seat belt installed, then he can be charged with two offences, that is no seat belt and not wearing a seat belt.
• Not causing a child to wear or be conveyed in a child restraint system in a moving vehicle – the driver of the vehicle
• Riding in a motor vehicle without wearing a seat belt if one is installed. The passenger will be prosecuted if that passenger is an adult.
• Not wearing protective helmet whilst driving a motor cycle – the driver
  
• Not wearing protective helmet whilst being a pillion passenger.
  The pillion passenger will be charged unless he is a child, in which case the driver will be charged.

 An abstract from http://www.nationalroadsafetycouncil.org.jm please visit for more information.

Tips for using the Highway
http://www.tollauthority.gov.jm/BROCHURE1.pdf

Toll Rates
To members of the general public and Interest Groups: The toll road is intended for use by the following classes of motor vehicles:

   
New Toll Rates
April 2007
 
Vineyards Toll Plaza

   
Spanish Town Toll Plaza

   
Portmore Toll Plaza

Road Safety Links

Department for International Development – Transport - www.dfid.gov.uk
Global Road Safety Partnership  - www.GRSProadsafety.org
International Centre for Alcohol Policies  - www.icap.org
Mothers Against Drunk Driving   -  www.madd.org
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – US  - www.nhtsa.dot.gov
Nordic Road and Transport Research  - www.vti.se/nordic
PIARC – World Association  - www.piarc.org
Streetwise - www.streetwise.org.uk
The National Road Safety Council   -  http://www.nationalroadsafetycouncil.org.jm
Think First  - www.thinkfirst.org
Think road Safety - www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk
US Federal Highway Administration - www.fhwa.dot.gov
Walk to School - www.walktoschool.org.uk
World Bank  - www.worldbank.org/bpd