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.”
Five key changes in the last 26 years that need to be addressed. there are more…
1) Mobile phones, the number of people I see riding or driving while holding a mobile phone is out of hand. It is possible to manage this activity, but as soon as you see a text or hear something that makes you have to think, you lose brain cycles and that means your focus shifts from driving/riding.
Change the punishment to a 6 month road ban for hand holding and texting or hand holding and talking while driving or a $1,000 fine
2) Car sizes are too big for Bermuda roads. Dial back the largest two sizes of vehicles for residential use. The fact that people push in their wing mirrors when driving along Harbour road, means they lose key tools for safe driving because their car is too big road the roads. You could alternatively ban classes of cars from certain roads to encourage buyers to buy smaller cars. (being caught on prohibited road means vehicle impounded for 6 months)
3) Maintenance of corner obstructions is not being done. Enforced hedge trimming or removal at road corners to ensure sight lines at corners are not impeded. Failure to cut back results in total removal.
4) More drivers/riders being stopped without licence and insurance. Impound vehicles where drivers / riders caught without insurance and licence. A certain amount of leeway to be given in the month following licensing or if individuals can prove they have been off island. Punishment for leeway time to be $1,000
5) police presence should be a deterant, we need more visible police on the beat (checking and clamping parked vehicles for licensing) . Also need more police vehicles visible around the island.
these are just 5 of many
In my opinion, the road safety strategy needs to be holistic in addressing a variety of factors, e.g. speeding, poor driving habits (including the use of mobile phones, running red lights, third laning by cyclists,etc.), driving while impaired. The causes of crashes, deaths and property damage are there for all of us to see. It’s going to require a culture change (difficult but worth pursuing) to stop the stupidity by making it uncool to pass on blind corners or for cyclists to tailgate other vehicles on their right rear fenders so they can slingshot past them, nine times out of ten to end up turning off the road or stopping at a red light in front of the vehicle they passed. Education, enforcement and stiffer penalties for road abusers all need to be addressed. I agree with MP Richardson in concept and agree the strategy should be published. Why has it not been published?
“the strategy should be published”
If a strategy existed, I agree it should be published.
Of course, then everyone would be able to see how the strategy was not being implemented.
The problem is that the BPS does not have the resources to enforce traffic laws consistently, and the PLP Government does not want traffic laws enforced consistently.
You got to get in the schools and teach them while they are young. Show them pics of crashes etc scared the crap out of them. All I hear is more enforcement that leeds to more money for the Government. You cannot change the behavior of these adults no matter how many tickets you write, that horse is already out of the stable. As usual we have a reactive government rather than a proactive government.