Road fatalities mar weekend

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By Theresa Goodwin
[email protected]
 
Three men were killed in two separate road accidents in a little more than a 24 hour period this past weekend, prompting police to appeal to drivers and motorcyclists to exercise caution on the nation’s roads.
The accidents bring the number of road fatalities to five for the year 2018.
The most recent incident involved 29-year-old Alvin Williams Carr who died shortly after 1 p.m. on Sunday following a motorcycle accident on the Cedar Valley main road.
“The year was going so good and yesterday [Saturday] we had two fatalities and today [Sunday] we have another one. I hope that this will be the last and I want to appeal to motorcyclists to let this be a lesson for you, because the public is complaining about how motorcyclists are speeding and revving through some of these communities,” said Assistant Superintendent of Police, Elson Quammie.
The officer, who also heads the Traffic Department, said that the Cedar Valley resident was riding from north to south on the main road when he lost control of the cycle and died on the spot.
Quammie said that while the deceased was wearing a helmet, it was useless due to the impact.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing a motorcycle speeding in the area moments before the tragic incident. One woman, who did not wish to be named, told our reporter on the scene that the cyclist sped past her while she was approaching Cedar Valley and moments later she drove up and saw the same individual lying lifeless on the side of the road. 
When OBSERVER media arrived on the scene on Sunday, the body of the 29-year-old man was lying face-up, yards away from the blue motorcycle A46395, pieces of which were scattered on the road.
Family members who visited the scene cried openly, visibly shaken by the tragic turn of events.
The other two road deaths occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning on the Sir Sydney Walling Highway, in the vicinity of the Transport Board Inspection Centre.
Khalil Baltimore, 23, of Willikies and Mc Kavin Snagg, 25, of Barnes Hill, died following a two-vehicular accident shortly after 6 a.m. on Saturday.
The vehicles involved in the accident were a beige Toyota driven by Baltimore with Snagg as a passenger, and a grey Nissan Urvan pickup owned and driven by Magistrate Dexter Wason, who was accompanied by his wife.
According to police reports, the pickup was travelling from east to west and the car was travelling from west to east at a high rate of speed, when it crashed into the pickup. Baltimore died on the scene while his passenger reportedly died at the hospital
The Magistrate and his wife sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, in another unrelated accident, which also occurred shortly after 6 a.m. on Saturday, a woman’s car allegedly crashed and burst into flames.
Assistant Superintendent Quammie told our newsroom yesterday that, while the woman was shaken by the incident, she escaped unharmed.
Investigations into these matters will continue, according to the police.

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