Police arrest driver after major smash
(CNS): One man is being treated at George Town hospital for head injuries and a second was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving following a major crash in Bodden Town on Saturday night. Police are appealing for witnesses following the two vehicle collision which occurred at around about 10.30pm in the vicinity of Midland Acres. According to the report, a black Dodge caravan was travelling west towards Bodden Town but the driver apparently lost control as he negotiated a left hand bend and swerved onto the east bound lane, colliding with a grey Toyota Gravia and causing it to flip over.
A 67-year-old man who was driving the Toyota Gravia was taken to George Town Hospital with head injuries where he is currently being treated but the 66-year-old male driver of the Dodge Caravan was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Both vehicles received extensive damage.
Anyone with information who witnessed the smash is asked to call PC 320 Gordon of the Bodden Town Police Station on 947 2220
Category: Local News
I suppose instead of blaming the police for trying to do their job, we should be blaming the idiotic motorists who continue to text and call whilst driving. Apart from the obvious DUI, how do so many local motorists apparently leave the road or manage to find themselves on the opposite carriageway? Their extraordinary inabilities also manage to find them hitting completely immobile objects, (like power poles) for no obvious reason except high speed and a lack of basic driving skill. Every day on Caymans roads, one can witness standards of driving which are frankly down right dangerous and inexcusable on such a small island with comparitively good roads. A complete reappraisal needs to be undertaken on the standard of driving instruction and testing as it would appear that this is where the problem originates. You only have to follow an instructor for a short period to realise their short comings and if you have the bad fortune to follow a student under instruction, it is plainly obvious that the instruction given is completely inadequate. Then you move on to drivers from countries whose standard of motoring, car care and observation of the law is, shall we say, flexible. With so many expat drivers from Jamaica, India, the Phillipines, Honduras etc..the standard of driver education and basic road skill is variable and potentially dangerous to other road users. If you have ever been to these countries and witnessed their road network and driving standards, you will completely understand. The government needs to look closer at the validity of expat licences and the driving standards expected within their homelands. Undoubtedly, many should receive local instruction and testing before licence and authority to drive in Cayman is issued. Of course, if Cayman had an effective and cheap scheduled bus service that covered all of the island, a lot of drivers would be removed from the roads altogether and both workers and tourists could get around without putting more vehicles or inexperienced drivers on the roads. Take a look at Bermuda, a fantastic bus and water taxi service that covers the whole archepelago.
Expats are certainly not completely to blame as it is clear that some Caymanians seem to make up the road laws as they go along with little or no regard for other road users. With a national maximum speed limit of 50 mph, reasonable roads, street lighting and simple road markings and layouts, how can they get it so wrong?
Improper training runs all the way through the RCIP. Accident management isn't the only aspect of roads policing that needs attention, others include appalling driving skills, the use of cell phones whilst driving, breaking speed limits without good cause and basic road awareness etc.. If you've ever had the misfortune to have deallings with the RCIP or witness them in operation, it is frankly farcical and makes the Keystone Cops look like NYPD Blue. The only way this country will ever have an effective police service is to send home all of the other Caribbean wannabe's, fire the Caymanians that are to frightned to confront their own and send the rest to the UK or US for a full basic training programme in how to be an effective law enforcer. If the local cops aren't up to the task, bring in more experience from the UK, US and Canada and get some professionalism on the streets.
Once again this accident highlighted the Police's poor traffic management practices following vehicle accidents. No one knows what their policy is, but to motorists, who are unfortunate to come along as they are investigating, it becomes very frustrating and in most instances infuriating to sit in traffic for hours, Saturday night's accident was a classic example. Most people sat in traffic for around two hours before being allowed to pass.
The wait wasnt even caused by the wrecker taking too long to arrive on scene, because the wrecker was on the scene for at least two hours. We appreciate that it takes time to clear the debris, but cars can sometimes drive off the shoulder of the road to pass the accident, while they investigate. When motorists were finally allowed to pass there was still a great deal of wreckage (glass & parts) still strewn all over the road, so why werent they allowed to pass earlier?
Why dont they use their car's public address system to give waiting motorists estimates of how long it will take for the road to be cleared. This should be easy because there were police cars that drove up to the scene and back using the right side lane. There should be no reason for motorists to wait two hours, causing the traffic line to stretch from the scene near Midland Acres to the restaurant which is located on the property of the old drive in theatre.
improper traffic management training.
Chop, Chop Lads, let's have us an evaluation and the addressing of the areas that present smaller and less expensive fixes. Right-Oh!
What I find even worse is the fact that they are appealing for witnesses to the accident! Those first on the scene saw the accident and assisted until the police arrived, only to be told that they need to move away from the scene….they were not asked about the incident, nor were their names even taken to follow-up with them later. The scene was awful at the site of the accident with police standing around looking lost and unsure what they should be doing….it took almost an hour before someone started taking notes and making measurements.
Yes I have to concur on this one – seen witnesses sent on their way too many times already and was always left thinking …WTF?!!!
There's still plenty of glass on the hard shoulder of the west bound carriageway, and I also noticed just before getting there, a tree that looks like it was mowed down by a motor, again on the west bound carriageway. That tree was fine before this accident occurred – I wonder if the police noticed this when carrying out their very long "investigation".