Beginning of Rant:
I was standing on the beach side of the road today waiting to cross to the garden side.
A van, approaching on my side of the road, slowed down – it was wanting to turn into the White Sands garden side. There was traffic coming from the other direction (from the North) so the van rolled to a stop. I was standing on the side of the road, the stopped van was directly in front of me and a car was coming from the other direction.
Suddenly a car sped up behind the stopped van and passed on the shoulder between me and the van, missing me by inches.
- the speed limit on the beach road is posted at 50kph – every car does at least double that.
- motorcycles come by at 150kph, all day long.
- cars/vans pass other vehicles when traffic is coming the other way, forcing oncoming traffic onto the shoulder.
- there is NO traffic enforcement on the road, its a free for all
- I saw a bus driver who was out of his bus to pick up chicken almost run over by a speeding car in front of Best in The West two nights ago – he had to jump to save his life.
- Jamaican drivers have NO respect for one another or for pedestrians; they think honking their horns gives them priority and safe passage
- the traffic situation on the beach road is ridiculous and extremely dangerous
- if I ever stop coming to Negril it will be because of the free-for-all driving on the beach road, I just hope my decision will be voluntary.
- I've travelled to many 3rd world countries - I think the driving in Jamaica ranks up there among the worst in the world.
Be extremely careful when walking along or crossing the beach road – your chances of becoming a statistic are higher than you think.
End of Rant
