One arrested for DUI following serious road smash
(CNS): Police have now confirmed that two people are still in hospital following a late night road crash on Saturday 22 May. On Monday morning the RCIPS released a statement stating that at around 11.50 pm on Saturday night a black Chrysler PT Cruiser and a silver Toyota Windom collided on Linford Pierson Highway close to Silver oaks. As a result of the crash the male driver of the Chrysler and the female driver of the Toyota were taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital. A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of DUI and dangerous driving. He has been released on police bail.
Police enquiries are ongoing and anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Police Constable Indrani Tahal at the RCIPS Traffic Management Department on 946- 6254. The two injured people are both still in hospital where they are being treated for rib and leg injuries. They are both described as being serious but stable.
According to reports on News 27, there was another head-on collision occurred at the junction of Bobby Thompson Way and Smith Road around the same time, in which one person was taken to the hospital, although police said the injuries were not serious.
Category: Headline News
I can guarantee that the minute you introduce a fleet of reliable metered taxis that won’t charge you $50 from West Bay Road to South Sound Road and take you round the houses to drive up their mileage (we live here, we know the quickest way to our house!), will be the minute you see a major drop in drink driving offences.
Tell me, how can it cost $115 from South Church Street to Morgan’s Harbour in the middle of the day? Seriously!?
The reason so many people drink and drive on this island is the horrendous charge for taxis and the unreliability of cab drivers who charge each person a full fare instead of everyone collectively.
I’m certainly not saying that all taxi drivers are guilty of this but I will only now call on drivers I know who are reasonable (and I would rather tip these drivers well).
Unfortunately whilst there are a lot of excellent taxi drivers, the collective masses would rather risk driving "over the limit" than pay a greedy taxi driver a ridiculous amount of money to take them 5 miles. And until you build trust in your taxi service, expect people to continue to drink and drive.
A very sad situation.
Ironically, it is often those with DUI convictions that have conducted the most comprehensive taxi research and they will have 4 or 5 good drivers on speed dial. If you know someone recently busted, ask themfor their recommended list and save to your cell phone!
Without a doubt there is a laid back tolerance of alcohol use and driving here with no shortage of enablers. If the RCIP wanted to clog the courts with DUI cases they certianly could by obtaining the schedules from any the bars or golf courses or fishing tournaments on the island and busting them up. Pick any of the bottomless Champagne Sunday Brunches. It would be unpopular, but necessary to change attitudes and transportation methods (if that was genuinely a goal). There can be hundreds of people drinking on any given full moon night and scarcely any opposition to suggest that maybe dozens of them should not be driving home after 3 rum and cokes, 4 beers, and 3 Jagerbombs. Similarly, regularly scheduled golf days or fishing tournaments where it is not uncommon for adult participants to consume >4-6 drinks in the hot sun and drive home. We all know people that have, and we are numb to it, so long as they don’t crash or run over our neighbour’s cat. Inebriation is an acceptable pursuit to the majority until attitudes change (from tragic example).
What is being done to identify problem drinkers and seeing that they get help?
How many DUI offenders are repeat offenders?
Programs need to be in place to keep the problem drinkers off the road.
The real problem is that the people you are out drinking with don’t care enough to take your keys away. Think about who you are out with next time! Let’s become positive and send out a message to change the situation instead of condeming the police and the youth!
It seems to me that the real problem is that for some reason we think it’s ‘okay’ to drink and drink until we’re incapacitated. Just substitute CRACK COCAINE for alcohol and see how it sounds……." the Xxxxx Club of Grand Cayman is teaming up with local bus drivers again this holiday season to keep our roads safe. Anyone that shoots so much crack cocaine that they cannot stand up or function properly, will be given a free ride home from the festivities. "We don’t want to discourage anyone from bringing in the new year with a little spirit, we only want to make sure no one gets injured or killed after smoking or injecting too much crack. So have a happy new year and call 555 5555 for you free ride home."
that’s the spirit!
NHTSA’s GET THE KEYS:
1. If it is a close friend, try and use a soft, calm approach at first. Suggest to them that they’ve had too much alcohol to drive and it would be better if someone else drove or if they took a cab.
2. Be calm. Joke about it. Make light of it.
3. Try to make it sound like you are doing them a favor. Carrot: Order them another drink if they surrender their keys, or they can keep drinking and extend their evening.
4. If it is somebody you don’t know well, speak to their friends and have them make an attempt to persuade them to hand over the keys. Usually they will listen.
5. If it’s a good friend, spouse, or significant other, tell them that if they insist on driving, you are not going with them. Suggest that you will call someone else for a ride, take a cab, or walk.
6. Locate their keys while they are preoccupied and take them away. Most likely, they will think they’ve lost them and will be forced to find another mode of transportation.
7. If possible, avoid embarrassing the person or being confrontational, particularly when dealing with men. This makes them appear vulnerable to alcohol and its effects.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.
The Police road blocks that were put into place a while ago, whilst inconveniencing and a drain on resources, did act as a deterent to those who drink and drive .The reports of serious accidents on the road seemed to decline with the introduction of the strategy.
It seems that there has been a change in strategy, because recently there appears to be no regular blocks. We are subsequently witnessing a return to the days when every weekend the roads were populated by drunk drivers and a death on the road was an all to common event.
Innocent lives are being taken and families torn appart because of the selfishness of others. I for one would prefer to be inconvenienced by road blocks then to be wiped out by a drunk driver. I acknowledge the drain on resources these regular check points would incur on the Police but if it keeps the roads safer bring them back ASAP.
there were several accidents this weekend and several DUI arrests. the police just are not serious about doing anything to stamp this out.
A few months ago people did nothing but complain that all the police were doing were wasting their time setting up roadblocks to catch motorists for various offenses and should have been out catching the ‘real’ criminals – you can’t have it all ways – there’s not enough to go round!
Exactly. It is as if no matter what the police do people will always have a problem with it. Few months back people were complaining that all the police were doing was handing out traffic tickets, and holding road blocks. Now they want them to do something about the road problems.
I for one do no mind being put out of my way, if I have to wait in a road block, if it means that our roads and country will be even that much safer.
if there were several arrests, it sounds like they ARE doing something about it. What am I missing?
yes – arresting somebody for dui AFTER an accident is doing the job, but stopping them from driving due to an active visible campaign to stamp it out is PROACTIVE.
the roadblocks mentioned were never looking for DUI, they stood back waving cars thru, looking for expired coupons, thats all.
PROACTIVE POLICING example – on a wed night at 1130 set up a roadblock just outside the royal palms, and look for dui and arrest. do this 3 weeks in a row, and the message will be clear. hopefully the drunks walking to their cars will see the roadblock and wont even get in their cars. within one month (4 nights of this) you will see a dramatic decrease in drunks driving out of there on a wed night. eventually you will not even have to make a single arrest – the message will be sent – PROACTIVE POLICING.
the other side is the law must change. In every civilized country in the world, DUI is a CRIMINAL offence. here it is a traffic offence. this is why the mindset here is the way it is – its not a big deal.
You’ve watched the Minority Report once too often….
We need some very serious sentences passed down to young drivers especially if there are drinks or drugs involved. Only a few years jail time and a subsequent lifetime ban might deter these selfish killers and life-wreckers.
Do you have kids? it might be yours someday!
It is always someones kid that drives drunk or shoots to kill! At least we both understand that the parents of these kids will do anything not to take responsibility for what their kids do. Like you. They are the reason for a lot of the problems in modern day Cayman. No respect for others. No respect for themselves. and take no responsibility for anything they do. O wait! That sounds like your leader. The premier!
So Mr. Scott, if you child was killed by a drunk driver shooting a red light you would want them to be treated leniently?
Everyone who behaves this way should expect jail, and a good long chunk of it. If you have brought up children to believe they will be treated leniently while behaving in such a selfish and immoral way then I pity your children for having to live life with the burden of such poor parenting.