OBA’s Jarion Richardson On Road-Safety Plan
“A serious road-safety strategy should be capable of advancing several necessary measures at the same time,” OBA MP Jarion Richardson said.
Mr Richardson said, “The death of a 63-year-old visitor following yesterday’s collision in Southampton marks Bermuda’s 13th road fatality of 2026. Our thoughts are first with her family and loved ones, and with everyone affected by this loss. The police investigation is continuing, and it would be wrong to speculate about the circumstances or responsibility before that work is complete.
“At the same time, Government has now announced a more visible enforcement response and referred publicly to a road-safety strategy intended to reduce fatalities and serious injuries by 50 per cent by 2030. I welcome both the increased police presence and the decision to set a measurable target. They recognise what has become impossible to ignore: road safety is a significant public-safety issue requiring sustained action.
“The next step should be to publish the road-safety plan.
“A target tells us where Government says it wants to go. The plan should tell us how it intends to get there. The public should be able to see the baseline against which the 50 per cent reduction will be measured, the interventions Government intends to use, which Ministry or agency is responsible for each one, the dates by which they are expected to be delivered and the measures by which success or failure will be judged.
“Those details matter. With thirteen lives already lost this year, 2030 cannot be the first date on which Bermuda asks whether the strategy is working. There should be interim milestones – at 30 days, 90 days, year-end and thereafter – so that Parliament and the public can see whether collisions, serious injuries and fatalities are actually moving in the right direction.
“The same applies to the enforcement measures announced this week. Additional officers, overtime deployments, data-led enforcement and roadside sobriety operations are welcome. The important question is what happens after the immediate surge ends. Bermuda does not need a road-safety campaign season followed by a return to business as usual. We need a sustained operating model in which enforcement, legislation, infrastructure, public transport, technology, education and accountability work together.
“Shared responsibility must also mean shared action. Drivers and riders have an obvious responsibility to slow down, remain sober, obey the law and exercise care. The police have responsibilities. Government has responsibilities. Parliament has responsibilities. None of those obligations can substitute for the others.
“That is also why the published plan should show clearly where legislation fits.
“The OBA has already placed the Road Traffic and Motor Car [Road Safety and Penalties] Amendment Bill before Parliament. It addresses one part of the wider problem by strengthening enforcement, deterrence and consequences, dealing more effectively with repeat offending and placing safeguards around police powers. It has never been presented as the whole solution.
“If Government’s road-safety plan contains different or additional legislative proposals, the public should see them. If Government believes provisions of the OBA Bill should be changed, it should identify those provisions and bring amendments. If parts of the Bill advance objectives Government itself now says are urgent, then Parliament should be allowed to do its work.
“We do not have to choose between enforcement and legislation, between speed cameras and education, or between road repairs and stronger consequences. A serious road-safety strategy should be capable of advancing several necessary measures at the same time.
“The perfect cannot become the enemy of the good while people continue to be seriously injured and killed.
“Government has now set a target and increased enforcement. Those are positive steps. The public should now be given the plan behind them, the milestones along the way and the information necessary to judge whether the measures are working.
“Publish the plan. Let us see the measurables. Then let Parliament and the public hold all of us accountable for the results.”
