Figures provided by the police traffic department show that road fatalities are up by a whopping 44% this year compared to last year.

The figure will pile pressure on the government to do something about the continuing carnage on the roads.

The Government Infor-mation Agency (GINA) quoted Acting Traffic Chief Neil Semple as saying that from January 1 to October 17 this year there were 157 fatalities from 138 accidents as compared to 109 last year from 90 accidents. Even if last week’s horrific Linden accident where 10 persons perished is discounted from the fatality figure, the number of deaths would still be 34% higher.

The number of fatal accidents is also sharply up. Based on the figures provided by Semple, fatal accidents over the period have risen by 53.3%.

Semple, according to GINA, said although the department is faced with a shortage of ranks and the statistics are worrying the department is optimistic that it will be able to curb the problem.

“The department is proactive. We are not sitting and allowing anything to happen. The main problem is speeding and we are really trying to tackle this issue but the shortage of ranks is our problem”, he added. Semple said that radar guns have helped and there is one in every division.