Pedestrian run down on West Bay Road

| 03/12/2009

(CNS): Police confirmed this morning that a 47-year-old man was knocked down on Wednesday evening as he was crossing the West Bay Road. The pedestrian has reportedly received head and arm injuries and is currently in George Town Hospital in a stable condition. Traffic police are appealing for witnesses following the accident, which occurred around 7.40pm and took place close to Comfort Suites. Police say the man was struck by a Range Rover which was travelling towards George Town and was driven by a 33 year old man, who was uninjured.

 

Inspector Adrian Barnett of the RCIPS Traffic department is appealing for any witnesses to the incident to contact him on 946-6254.

Police are reminding people who use the roads on the islands for recreational purposes to make sure they can be seen during the hours of darkness. Walkers, joggers, and cyclists are urged to consider wearing reflective clothing or use lights/ torches to ensure that motorists are aware that they are there.

 “Joggers, cyclists and walkers are commonplace on the islands with many people using the road network in the twilight hours or when it’s dark. If you are one of those people I would ask you to stop and think before you go out,” said Barnett. “Will what you are wearing make you visible – have you attached lights to your bicycle – could you do anything else to make sure that you can be seen and avoid any possibility of drivers failing to see you on the road?

He said that all road users including drivers, cyclists or pedestrians have a responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others. “By taking a few minutes to add lights, or change into reflective clothing you could avoid either causing or becoming involved in, a road accident,” the traffic officer added.

Anyone who wishes to obtain road safety advice should call the RCIPS Traffic department on 946-6254.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    That part of west bay road is well lit anyway. XXXXXXX Sometimes I cr@p myself running even in the daylight because more than a few times you see a Caymanian (usually but not always) swerving across lanes because they are not concentrating on the road due to texting or phoning.

    Clamp down on bad driving and use of mobile phones when driving and we will see the number of accidents and injuries/deaths on our roads drastically reduce.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why have you said "you see a Caymanian"? I am sure you didn’t mean anything by this but be careful what you say. It leads one to believe you are stereotyping or saying this will start off someone else calling nationality names, etc. And we all have seen some of the silly stuff being said on here.

    • Anonymous says:

      I know it’s very easy to criticize and my prayers are with the injured person, but the man crossing the road was coming from the Marriott Hotel (where he was staying) and heading towards Coconut Joes (a licenced establishment) and being a tourist was very likely looking to his right and did not see the vehicle, so I don’t think we can ask the driver to be more attentive to the road if someone just runs infront of them. The Police on the scene were said to have done a breathalizer exam and the driver was under the legal limit and the Police stated that speed was not a factor, so I don’t think anyone has rushed to judgement, it seems to be a very unfortunate accident involving yet another tourist and our prayers are with both parties involved.

  2. what a mess says:

    Sounds like the Police have already determined the pedestrian is at fault? What, with immediately speaking to the need for light and/or reflective clothing. While i agree with such a message, in general, it seems strange to do soin the same breath as appealing for witnesses to an accident that is still under investigation. It sends the clear impression that the pedestrian is at fault. The message should have also included a plea for ‘drivers’ to excercise more caution…especially as so many are on phones and thus not paying attention to "driving"!

    It is a known fact that this west bay road corridor is extremely dangerous to cross…and many people over the years have asked successive governments to come up with improvements as the area is teaming with pedestrians (especially tourists who are unfamiliar…and have elderly and children in tow)…nothing has been done. I for one have spoken to past NRA heads as far back as 2000 (and since) about lowering the speed limit and/or putting in properly engineered speed bumps, on this strip of road. I was met with indifference and told "just because the speed limit is 40mph doesn’t mean people have to drive 40mph". This response seemed in large part because the person didn’t want a suggestion from a lowly citizen…a typical response that many powerful govt. heads and politicians seem to have. But look how quickly a properly engineered crossing sprung up between the Govt. Admin Bldg and Immigration Dept…for reg pedestrians? or for those "who matter"?

    Just think; the seven mile beach road corridor (which is very busy with pedestrians and entries/exits to/from business) is the same speed limit as the Harquail Bypass (which has large shoulders and practically no pedestrians and one entrance/exit…only recently). Does this make ANY sense? Today both road corridors along GT to WB are the same speed limit, yet one is far more heavily utilized by pedetrians…again, this makes no sense!

    I can only guess that the Government/NRA/Police are waiting until either a consultant comes to tell them what they should already know…or God forbid "someone that matters" is killed or seriously injured.

  3. Anon says:

    At 7.40 am it is fully daylight, so motorists wont see a runners light because of all the background light.

    I’ve seen emergency vehicles with lights flashing and sirens wailing and motorists still don’t notice them behind them, what hope is there that these motorists will notice anything.

    • Anonymous says:

      Just a correction Anon the time was not 7:40am it was 7:40pm wich it is fully dark during those hours that’s why the police advise pedestrians to wear light color clothes or lightings so that the drivers can see them, next time read the article carefully before posting.

    • EastSider says:

      At 7:40 am it is fully daylight but the report says 7:40 pm which is fully nightime.  I live in East End and if I do happen to go into George Town at night I have seen many people in dark clothing on the road and luckily I have seen them in time to avoid hitting them but it is very difficult to see them when they are wearing dark clothing.

    • Anonymous says:

      The trouble is that this happened at 7:40pm and not 7:40 am therefore it would have been dark.

      I am sure most drivers like myself who do not use cell phones while driving have had instances where cyclists come at them on the wrong side of the road and without lights and wearing dark clothes. Its a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt even at the low speeds we drive at on the Island.

  4. Anonymous says:

    I had a close call with a lady the other day…dark skin, dark clothes and totally tuned out, she was walking down the road while on the other side of the street there was a brand new illuminated sidewalk.  Why the aversion to sidewalks?  Be smart and be safe people!