NRSC Urges Motorists Not to Get Distracted While Driving

Executive Director of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), Paula Fletcher, is urging motorists to stay attentive while driving, warning that distracted driving poses a serious threat to motorists and pedestrians alike.

Speaking at a Think Tank hosted by the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) in Kingston on April 28, Mrs. Fletcher explained that distracted driving refers to any activity that takes a driver’s attention away from the task of driving.

“It can happen in three ways, visually, manually and cognitively,” she said, noting that distraction affects what drivers see, how they control the vehicle, and how they process information, thereby interfering with the brain’s ability to interpret and respond to the traffic environment.

She further pointed out that some activities, particularly texting while driving, involve all three forms of distraction at once, making them especially dangerous.

“When you take your concentration off what you are doing, you are almost not in control of your vehicle,” she said.

The Executive Director stressed that distraction extends beyond mobile phone use and includes behaviours, such as eating while driving, interacting with passengers, and driving while fatigued.

Meanwhile, Commanding Officer for the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB), Senior Superintendent (SSP) Lloyd Darby, said the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) continues to treat distracted driving as a significant factor in road crashes, even where it is not always recorded as the primary cause.

He noted that for 2024, investigators attributed 14 of the 374 road fatalities to distracted driving, while seven cases were linked to the behaviour in 2025. So far this year, one fatal collision has shown distracted driving as a contributing factor.

“Research shows that it takes between 1.5 to two seconds to react to something on the road, and during that time the vehicle is still moving. If your attention is divided, your response time is affected,” SSP Darby said.

He is urging motorists to remain fully focused while driving, noting that even brief lapses in attention can have serious consequences.

“You need to be focused on the task of driving to get from point A to point B safely. Do not believe that it cannot happen to you,” SSP Darby cautioned.