Thoughts
too deep to be exhausted,
And
too strong to be suppressed.
George Wither, Mistress
of Philarete
The
current death toll due to Road Traffic Fatalities stands at two hundred and
nine (209) from one hundred and seventy (170) fatal crashes since the start of
the year 2011AD. This based on statistics from the Road Safety Unit in the
Ministry of Transport and Works as stated in the article “NRSC
urges pedestrians to take responsibility for their safety”,
published Friday, September 23, 2011, The Jamaica Observer,
best expressed in the graphic shown below.
Now
there is news of the coming of the issuing of handheld units for the issuing of
Road and Traffic Violation tickets by the end of the Fourth Quarter of 2011AD
as stated in the article “Cops
to use electronic ticketing system”, published Friday,
September 02, 2011,
The Jamaica Observer
The
handy graphic puts it all in perspective for us statistics geeks, as the death
toll is slowly approaching the three hundred (300) mark which the NRSC
(National Road Safety Council) is trying to avoid breaching as they did last
year in 2010AD. To give you an idea of the enormity of the challenge, as of Thursday
September 22nd 2011AD, the NRSC has fourteen (14) weeks and two (2)
days to the end of the year, a grand total of one hundred days (100) till the
end of the year.
Already
Jamaica have two hundred and nine (209) deaths, which means that the NRSC has
(dare I say this….) ninety one (91) more people to prevent from dying in order
to avoid this most macabre of statistics targets. In effect, the results of
2010AD where three hundred and ten (310) persons died due to Road and Traffic
Fatalities as noted in my
blog
article entitled “JATOO
and the Transport Revolution in Jamaica - Babylon By Bus”
are bound to be repeated again this year, with a hundred (100) days to go
before the end of the year.
Thus
the warning of the NRSC to take charge of our personal safety while on the
roads is like throwing stones at the John Crows hovering about, awaiting fresh
roadkill. NRSC Executive Director Paula Fletcher's request for children of
short stature to increase their visibility by raising their hands is still a
good idea, quote: “When a motorist sees them and brings the car to a stop and
the way is clear, they can then cross the road. It is incorrect for children
and adults as well who use this signal, to put their hand in the air and
proceed to cross the road”.
I
say this, as it was a suggestion of mine from the Fourth Quarter of 2008AD via
a phone conversation with a Contractor named Jody a Contractor affiliated with
a Telecom Provider CLARO
Contractor named DryMax, in which I was discussing strategies to reduce Road
and Traffic fatalities. So I am glad to see it being implemented.
But
another idea that popped up in that conversation with Jody, that being the idea
of an Automated Electronic Traffic
Ticketing System! NRSC Executive Director Paula Fletcher had even
mentioned such an initiative back in 2009AD as stated in the article “CCTV
speed Traps - Surveillance Cams to track Road Hogs” published Monday July 13, 2009 by Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.
It got extensive coverage from my blog in the form
of an article that predicted the implications of its implementation as stated
in my
blog
article entitled “Information on the Automated Ticketing System”. Everything from capturing Road and Traffic
Offenders literally in the mail and thereby increasing Government of Jamaica
revenues to making still Photographs, Video and Audio recordings admissible as
evidence of a crime in both civil and criminal cases.
In Jamaican Law (and other International Jurisdictions) convictions for
any offence are secured only on the basis of eyewitness accounts. No provisions
were ever made in the Criminal Offences Act or the Offences Against the Persons
Act, the yet-to-be implemented Charter on Rights and Freedoms or any other Acts
to allow for electronic recordings i.e. still Photographs or Audio, be they
Digital or Analog at the time of recording, to be used by the Jamaica
Constabulary Force aka the Jamaican Police to secure a conviction.
Thus legislative amendments would:
1.
Create
standards for the registration of the instruments i.e. cameras, video tap
devices, Audio devices used by the Jamaican Police
2.
Validate this
type of evidence from the Police Officers involved in taking the electronic
recordings i.e. still Photographs, Video or Audio, be they Digital or Analog at
the time of recording the offence.
3.
Empower citizens with the same ability
as the Police to submit evidence i.e. still
Photographs or Audio, be they Digital or Analog at the time of recording as
evidence in lieu of being a First Person witness to a crime.
Due
to the photographic nature of such an extensive Network of cameras, Facial
Recognition software could also be used to identify criminals walking or
driving about in Jamaica with considerable ease, making tracking and capturing
known criminal offenders as simple as waltzing up and arresting an individual
upon confirmation of their identity.
Very
much a possibility, as the Government of Jamaica is moving to create a new NIDS
(National Identification System) as stated in my blog
article entitled “Jamaica
to adopt National Identification System - NIDS makes Caribbean Islands in the
Stream” that would create one (1) System of identification
to replace the following forms of identification:
- NIS
(National Insurance System)
- TRN (Tax
Registration Number)
- National
Voter’s ID
- Passport
- Driver’s
License
- JADEP
Health Cards
Even
more intriguing, is that some lucky Contractor, most likely a Telecom Provider,
could use their Wireless Broadband Network to power this Network of cameras and
thus make revenue from Road Traffic Tickets as stated in the article “CCTV
speed Traps - Surveillance Cams to track Road Hogs” published Monday July 13, 2009 by Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner and as stated in my blog
article entitled “Information on the Automated Ticketing System “.
Not to mention help the Ministry of Justice pay up
the JA$350 it owes in Road and Traffic Tickets to the Ministry of Finance, an
increase of JA$100 million over 2009’s figure based on Prime Time News aired Thursday April 1st 2010, Television Jamaica. This
figure has now ballooned to some JAS$3 billion plus in
uncollected Traffic Tickets from Traffic Offenders islandwide as stated in the
article “JA$3
billion owed in outstanding Traffic Tickets”, published
Thursday February 10, 2011 by Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.
It could have even ushered in MNP (Mobile Number
Portability). This as in order for evidence from a Mobile camera phone i.e.
still Photographs or Audio, be they Digital or Analog at the time of recording,
to be admissible as evidence, the Mobile camera phone would have to be
registered to the user who captured the evidence using
Government of Jamaica approved identification i.e. Voters ID, Drivers License,
Passport, TRN, Birth Certificate, effectively MNP.
Since
that first blog article, I have been tracking the progress of the NRSC progress
as it relates to the implementation of this Automated Electronic Traffic Ticketing System, which was slated to come
on stream in eighteen (18) months time since its announcement in July 2009AD,
which effectively translated to January 2011AD.
A glimmer of hope came on the horizon with the
announcement of the implementation of this camera based, Facial
Recognition empowered Automated
Electronic Traffic Ticketing System, involving a Database, the necessary
legislative changes and handheld ticketing units that recorded the issuing of
the Ticket for the Road Traffic Offence at the time of issue as stated
in the article “New
Ticketing System to collect billions in unpaid fines”,
published Friday, February 11th 2011 20:41 by JIS News.
All
summarized and neatly chronicled in my blog
article entitled “Motorist,
NRSC and the New Traffic Ticket System - Nowhere to Run”.
And possibly using Digicel’s newly minted Tier III Data Center as described in
my Geezam blog
article entitled “Digicel’s
Cloud Backup Services – A deep Analysis” for hosting such a Database,
giving the Government of Jamaica
license to dip into the UAFCL (Universal
Access Fund Company Limited) to partially fund this project along with grants
from multi-lateral agencies.
This
was in February 2011AD; about a two (2) month after the NRSC failed to meets
its target of below three hundred (300) Road and Traffic Fatalities in December
2010AD. At which time Director of the NRSC, Kenute Hare aka Rabbit Man was
apologetic as he proffered his idea of a ban on Mobile phone usage while
driving as stated in the article “Road
Safety Unit Looks to Regulate Cell Phone Use”, published
Friday, December 31 2010 09:00 By JIS
News.
This
would be eventually extended to the usage of other dev ices in your motor
vehicle while driving, such as your car radio. The move to ban Mobile phone
usage while driving was roundly supported by the Telecom Providers as stated in
the article “LIME
supports ban on cell phone use while driving”, published
Friday, February 18, 2011, The
Jamaica Observer.
Since
all these positive soundings in February 2011AD, nothing has been heard of or
has anyone seen a visible implementation of:
1. A
camera based, Facial Recognition Database empowered islandwide Automated Electronic Traffic Ticketing System
2. The necessary legislative changes in the Criminal
Offences Act, the Offences Against the Persons Act and the Charter on Rights
and Freedoms or any other Acts to allow for electronic recordings i.e. still
Photographs or Audio, be they Digital or Analog at the time of recording to be
admissible in lieu of a fearful first Person witness
3. Handheld ticketing units for Jamaican Police
4. An islandwide ban on the use of Mobile phone while
driving or doing anything else in the car while driving
Not surprising, as no contracts have been tendered
for the design and construction of such a System as noted in my
blog
article entitled “JUTC and the Downtown Municipal Transport Centre -
Planes, Trains & AutoMobiles”.
Now would be the opportune time to introduce such a System,
as the Ministry of Finance is facing a considerable shortfall in its tax
revenues and implementing new taxes would make them hugely unpopular before
September 2012AD, the widely acknowledged Constitutionally due period for
General Elections.
This as it would help reduce road fatalities and
achieve all the issues detailed above in one fell swoop, ALL of which are
popular with the Jamaican electorate:
1. MNP
2. Reduce Crime
3. Reduce Road and Traffic Fatalities
Such
a contract from the Ministry of Transport and Works on behalf of the NRSC, now two years and two months (26
months) overdue would leave the lucky Contractor licking not only all of their
ten (10) finger and (10) toes in delight, but swimming in Mad Money (2008) from the
Telecom Providers and the Government of Jamaica’s UAFCL (Universal Access Fund Company Limited) and JA$3 billion in
unpaid Road and Traffic Fines.
Double, if said contractor were to secure a contract to build out
a Geo-Location or LBS (Location Based Service) Enhanced Emergency Service for
the Jamaican Police and other emergency services in Jamaica as also chronicled
in my
blog
article entitled “Enhanced
Emergency Services and MRSI in Jamaica - Ananda Alert meets JAWS”, another big ticket item for General Election 2012AD
