Video: Police Address “Carnage On Our Roads”

August 14, 2014

[Updated with video] Police Inspector Robert Cardwell spoke at a press conference today [Aug 14] to bring attention to what he said was “some alarming data that is being gathered as a result of what can only be described as carnage on our roads.”

“To date we have recorded 9 road traffic related fatalities. In comparison there were 9 in total in 2013 and 9 in 2012. As we still have 5 months left of 2014 the number of road traffic related fatalities suffered already is of serious concern,” said Inspector Cardwell.

“In total there have been 848 collisions on the roads in Bermuda so far in 2014. This includes in addition to the 9 road traffic related fatalities there have been 80 collisions involving serious injury to date. These people have been seriously affected with life changing injury in some cases include disability and years of rehabilitation in others.”

Inspector Cardwell’s full statement is below:

Today and I join the Bermuda Police Service partner, the Bermuda Road Safety Council to once again bring to your attention some alarming data that is being gathered as a result of what can only be described as carnage on our roads.

To date we have recorded 9 Road Traffic related fatalities. In comparison there were 9 in total in 2013 and 9 in 2012. As we still have 5 months left of 2014 the number of Road Traffic related fatalities suffered already is of serious concern.

In total there have been 848 collisions on the roads in Bermuda so far in 2014. This includes in addition to the 9 Road Traffic related fatalities there have been 80 collisions involving serious injury to date.

These people have been seriously affected with life changing injury in some cases include disability and years of rehabilitation in others. Serious injury is a classification given where a victim has suffered a brain injury, paralysis, broken limbs and/or admission to the King Edward Intensive Care Unit.

Driving or riding whilst impaired, in a manner that is dangerous or without due care and attention are decision based. Bad decisions are too frequently being made by road users and the consequences are very serious. There is an increased disregard for the National speed limit, traffic signs, red lights and the requirement to use turn signals.

Every road user, whether as a motorist, a bicyclist or a pedestrian has a responsibility to obey the law and use the roads in a responsible way.

The Bermuda Police Service will continue to enforce traffic laws. Speed detection devices are regularly deployed island wide and numerous motorists are being placed before the courts weekly. The frequency of detecting speeding motorists in the 65 to 85kph range continues to increase.

As we have said before, enforcement alone is not going to reverse the current culture of bad driving behavior. Raising awareness and having the conversation about driving and riding behavior will.

The Bermuda Police Service has started to analyze in greater detail the collision data that is collected. This analysis is equally producing alarming facts:

  • 2012 139 Serious Injury Collisions
  • 2013 136 Serious Injury Collisions
  • 2014 80 Serious Injury Collisions

The largest age bracket represented in serious injury collisions is the 26-35 year olds. We are calling this the testosterone group! This is also the hardest group to reach and get the message to about road safety. 83% of serious injury collisions involve Bermudians. 81% were male and 68% were black.

Over the 4 day Cup Match holiday we told you that there had been a total of 24 collisions resulting in 4 persons being left with serious injury. One of those unfortunately later succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

In the 11 days since the Cup Match holiday and up until 8am this morning there have been 37 additional collisions on our roads. 19 were damage only; 16 collisions saw 19 persons receiving slight injury; and 2 collisions involved serious injury.

The 2 collision resulting in serious injury saw 3 persons being admitted to the King Edward memorial Hospital with one later being airlifted to the United States for further treatment.

We must work towards improving road user safety and reduce the frequency of collisions where lives are lost or where lives are affected and become miserable because of injuries suffered. Saving lives on our roads is paramount.

The Bermuda Police Service will continue to work with and support the Bermuda Road Safety Council. All are encouraged to get involved in improving driving behavior by raising awareness of the problem and having a conversation with loved ones and colleagues. Road Safety is everyone’s safety.

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Category: Accidents and fires, All, News

Comments (15)

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  1. pressing the flush says:

    None of these non~drivers are going to pay any attention to this or any other Police or Road Safety Message

  2. somuchless says:

    The numbers are high for such a small place and just imagine there are far more accidents but some of them don’t get reported.

    Take your time Bermuda.

  3. 21st Century says:

    Can the police provide statistics on cause or probable cause of these accidents? i.e. X% alcohol, Y% speeding, Z% inattention, etc.
    If we don’t truly understand the actual causes this will lead to conjecture which could lead to concentrating on the wrong solutions.

    • Keepin' it Real!...4Real! says:

      How about the Individuals Human Nature..? any thoughts about how YOU can CONTROL that..? actually dont answer coz dat wud be scary…bbbrrrr!

    • Herb says:

      ahhhhh actually they do, in the quarterly police reports. check the news etc……

  4. aceboy says:

    When I was 16 there was a cop behind every bush it seemed. You didn’t dare speed back then.

    Today I see cops at Crow Lane.

  5. got it says:

    We already know the culprits. Why are we not severely fining and taking off the road the non drivers having all these accidents. Over policing and penalizing the rest of the public who are not having accidents won’t solve the issue.

  6. Y-Gurl says:

    The inspector is correct we need to stop this, only this afternoon I was confronted by two orange scrambler bikes being driven at high speed on Harbour Road by two clowns going nowhere, and I can help to identify them, they were wearing white helmets and dark and light blu uniforms.

  7. Ruthless says:

    What is not being talked about is the greed of Government. Not picking on OBA or PLP but just imagine how much money they make in the courts since they introduced the point system. Keep them on the road so that they can continue to make money by catching them as many times as they can before they use up their points. Return the system to the way it used to be and give the threat of jail for high speeds like Magistrate John Judge used to do. Nobody cares right now cause they know they have about three more chances before they are taken off the road. #justsayin#

  8. real talk says:

    Y- girl, you now are known as a antipolice person, every comment you post has a very foolish comment. Unless you know the destination of a police officer you can only assume where they are going. I hope if anything ever happens to you or your family and friends the two clowns in white helmets and dark blue and light blue uniforms despite your ignorant comments hurry to your/their assistance.

  9. Mumbojumbo says:

    It ‘s unnecessary…..life must not be squandered nor must it be waisted, dey tell me dat if you don’t do well this time….you have to do it again ,so please for your sake ,try and get it right!…..there are people that can’t make bad choices….or good ones for that matter,you see they are without choice ,bed ridden ,in a chair with wheels….these people would love to trade places with a life waisting nincompoop.There are no excuses …..drive safe!…do it for others! Or don’t drive,this might be a better idea.

  10. Mumbojumbo says:

    Just be careful,life is precious…

  11. Adult says:

    how is the last a road fatality? i thought road fatality was when the person in the actual vehicle dies? please anyone correct me if i am wrong

  12. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL says:

    This is soooooooo DUMB!!!!

    All this jiberish being talked about above.

    If the police and government were really worried about our safety then they why would one allow these larger cars and bikes that are much faster than the previous years vehicles to be imported here to the island??? Turth is this: they want us to speed and act the A double S so we can generate income for islands pockets. Its simple math people, think about it!!