Wed, 2009-01-07

2008 will be remembered as one of the most tragic in recent years as far as road fatalities are concerned after 17 individuals lost their lives during that year on Bermuda’s roads. This is a clear indicator that we as a community must do things differently. There have been many conversations at various levels identifying what should be done to decrease the collisions on our roads and to reduce the number of fatalities.

Firstly the Bermuda Police Service is committed to doing our part in reducing the number of fatalities on Bermuda’s roads and there are a number of initiatives that are currently in place to do just that.

As a part of our initiatives we have produced a Roads Policing Plan for 2009. Roads policing will focus on the following actions:

1. Denying criminals the use of the roads by enforcing the law;
2. Reducing road casualties;
3. Reducing the number of vehicle thefts;
4. More robustly targeting impaired driving by doing the following:

The most topical issue is that of speed cameras. The Bermuda Police Service is actively working in collaboration with specific community partners as well as government to consider the feasibility of using speed cameras in Bermuda. However, we must be very clear that we do not believe speed cameras are the panacea to the crisis on our roads. There are other actions that need to take place.

The Service recognizes that we have not had a full compliment of officers in the Roads Policing Unit; however now that we have additional resources we have started to bring the Roads Policing Unit up to strength so that they can more robustly address road issues.

In addition, we are changing the internal culture of the Bermuda Police Service. This simply means every officer within the Bermuda Police Service becomes actively involved in the reduction of collisions. More officers at Hamilton Police Station, Somerset Police Station and Southside Police Station will be trained to use speed detection devices so that they can actively participate in the Service’s quest to reduce collisions and bad road behaviour.

Educating the public with accurate information is vital to this process. Also, it is equally important to work closely with a robust Road Safety Council and other community partners such as CADA to ensure that the public continues to be informed with factual information that can aid in this process. A sustained campaign to educate and inform the public about our road initiatives as well as specific road tips will also help to keep our road users safe.

We have been reviewing the road collision statistics and we believe it is imperative to give an accurate perspective on information that is disseminated. Here are a few examples.

Overview

Between 2006 and 2008, forty-two (42) road traffic fatalities were recorded on Bermuda’s roads - fourteen (14) of which were recorded in 2006, eleven (11) in 2007, and seventeen (17) in 2008. In particular, the recording of seventeen (17) road traffic fatalities in 2008 was the highest since 1998 when there were also seventeen (17). Overall, Black Bermudian males between the ages of 21-30, riding motorcycles, were consistently identified as being the primary victims of these fatalities over this three year period.

Age

The age bracket of 21-30 recorded the highest number of road traffic fatalities, totaling twelve (12) or 28.5%. This total was closely followed by the age bracket of 16-20, which recorded ten (10) or 24% and the age bracket of 31-40, which recorded nine (9) or 21%. Based on these figures, it can be ascertained that teenagers and young adults have been the predominant victims of road traffic fatalities.

Gender

Males accounted for forty (40) or 95% of the total number of victims while females accounted for two (2) or 5%. This suggests that males are more likely to be the victims of road traffic fatalities. Of note, of the two female victims, one was a tourist riding a livery cycle and the other was a Bermudian driving a car.

Race

The principal race of road fatality victims was Black, totaling thirty-one (31) or 74%. Eleven (11) other victims were recorded as either White (5), of Portuguese nationality (4) or Other (2).

Residency

Forty-one (41) of the forty-two incidents involved a Bermuda resident and one (1) involved a tourist.

Location

Devonshire Parish recorded the highest number of road traffic fatalities, totaling eight (8). This total was closely followed by that of Warwick Parish, which reported seven (7), Sandy’s Parish, which reported six (6) and Pembroke Parish, which reported five (5). Likewise, Middle Road, Warwick, reported the highest number of fatalities, totaling five (5). Also, North Shore Road, Hamilton recorded four (4) fatalities while Middle Road, Southampton and North Shore Road, Devonshire recorded three (3) each. This suggests that Middle Road, Warwick to Southampton and North Shore Road, Devonshire to Hamilton Parish are prime areas for regular patrols.

Motor Vehicle

Thirty (30) or 71% of the fatalities were on motorcycles. This suggests that the heightened speed capabilities of these cycles in comparison to auxiliary cycles, which reported only five (5) or 12%, need to be contemplated as a contributing factor of the road traffic fatalities.

Moreover, two (2) victims were pedestrians and two (2) were on pedal cycles. Only one (1) victim was in a car. Of note, seventeen (17) or 40% of the incidents were single vehicle.

Of the thirty-six (36) incidents in which the victim was on a motorcycle, auxiliary cycle or livery cycle, the victim was the rider in thirty-three (33) incidents and the passenger in three (3). This suggests that a lone rider is more likely to be involved in a road traffic fatality; however, when there is a passenger, the passenger is more likely to be the fatality victim.

Temporal Analysis

The time frame during which most road traffic fatalities occurred was during 6am-11:59am, totaling fourteen (14) incidents. The next time frame was 6pm-11:59pm, totaling thirteen (13).

Collision Statistics

To November 30th 2008 when compared with the same period the previous year there was a reduction of 509 collisions. Total for 2008 = 2,264 collisions, total for 2007 = 2,773 collisions.

To November 30th 2008 when compared with the same period the previous year there was a reduction of 132 individuals injured. Total for 2008 = 905 people injured, total for 2007 = 1,037 people injured.

Tickets issued for 4th Quarter 2008

We are using our analysis of tickets and collision data to be proactive in targeting certain areas at different times of day, which is why the public will have noticed Police officers out on patrol during rush hour periods.

We will continue to do these high visibility patrols to address the level of unsafe road driving behaviour.

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