The Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport and Mining is exploring the use of a new device designed to assist with safety on the roads.

The device known as ‘Brake Plus’ is expected to decrease the incidence of rear-end crashes. The device is placed behind the third brake light of a vehicle and becomes operational when the brake pedal is depressed. This action causes the brake light to illuminate and rapidly pulse four times within seconds thereafter remaining on a solid light for as long as the driver’s foot is on the brake pedal. In this way, the gaze of persons travelling behind such a vehicle would be drawn to the series of lights and alert them to staying at a safe distance thereby averting possible rear end collisions.

The device is particularly useful in cases where drivers tend to be distracted while in the traffic environment.

Speaking at a seminar in which the product was being tested, Director of the Road Safety Unit, Kenute Hare says based on preliminary results, the product appears to hold ‘a lot of potential’ in helping to address the country’s road traffic crash rate. He says with other new technologies such as black boxes in motor vehicles, the device will go a far way in helping the country to positively address behaviour modification on the roads.

Head of the Police Traffic Division, Supt. Calvin Allen also endorsed the product based on the preliminary demonstration. He says anything that would seek to reduce the figures as they pertain to road traffic crashes would be a welcome addition to the suite of measures to arrest the country’s road traffic problems.

Rear end collisions are the most common types of road traffic crashes in Jamaica accounting for a third of all crashes