Six deaths drive clamp down
(CNS): One of Cayman’s top traffic cops has said that the current poor driving on the country’s roads has to be challenged. In the wake of the sixth road death of the year, last weekend, Inspector Adrian Barnett of the RCIPS Traffic Management Department is encouraging everyone to be responsible and realise that their actions have consequences as the police begin a road safety crackdown for the Christmas season. He said that if the community didn’t challenge the bad driving more families would be burying loved ones as a result of avoidable fatalities on the roads. The clamp down starts Monday and cops warn they will be focusing on drink-driving and speeding. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
“The fact is that drinking and driving and speeding cost lives,” said Inspector Barnett. “Too many people still take chances with their own safety and the lives of others on our roads by getting behind the wheel of a car when they are drunk, using our roads as race tracks or, in many cases, a combination of both.”
Barnet said that the latest road fatality was also the fourth hit and run when a driver made off from the scene, since the beginning of the year. “That’s why the driving behaviour we see day after day in this country needs to be challenged head-on. If we do not collectively challenge it the death and destruction on our roads will continue and more families will have to go through the heartache of burying their loved ones,” he added.
The traffic cop called on everyone in the community to join with the police and play their part in the forth coming campaign. “If you know someone who drinks and drives encourage them to use a taxi or a designated driver, if they don’t – call us; if you see anyone driving dangerously – call us. That call could help save a life.”
The RCIPS holds a road safety crackdown during the festive season every year and the 2010 seven week campaign of enforcement and education for all road users which will challenge bad driver behaviour and enforce the ‘don’t drink and drive’ message starts on 22 November.
High visibility patrols, static road checks, unmarked vehicles, radar stops and targeted operations will all take place throughout the campaign period to discourage and detect those who drink and drive, or engage in other inconsiderate or illegal road activities.
A programme of education will also take place and police officers will deliver road safety presentations in schools throughout the Islands in an effort to make young people more aware of how they can stay safe on the roads while on foot, on a bicycle or travelling in a car, police said.
Category: Headline News
It was nearly more than six deaths thanks to the driver of the bus going up West Bay Road at FOURTEEN miles per hour at about 8pm on Saturday night with about 100 cars backed up behind. I saw a pickup truck towing a boat, and three cars overtake directly into oncoming traffic because they were so frustrated.
I have a suggestion. Insurance companies, should incorporate a bundle policy if I may call it that. Whereas a life insurance policy equivalant to the amount the vehicle is insured is mandatory. Traffic records should be produced to insurance companies prior to insurance approval or qoutes. This will generate revenue for government as well as the insurance companies, and protect individuals as well with additional coverage. Just a thought. =)
Let’s not forget that until 2010, average deaths on Cayman’s roads averaged about 12 per year. Therefore, the figure of 6 deaths this year represents a considerable reduction, terrible though it is.
What is frightening, but not surprising, is that from reading these letters it is clear that more than one driver, in the midst of their indignation at how badly others drive, don’t themselves understand either roundabouts or some of our adopted American rules of the road. Some clearly don’t know the difference between their left and their right, so perhaps it was one of you that I followed recently during the day. You were driving West opposite Ocean Club directly into oncoming traffic, until your eagle eyes picked up the headlights approaching you instead of the more familiar tail lights, at which point your brain snapped back into action and you reverted to driving on the more conventional side of the road. If you are still alive to read this, your right hand side is probably the hand you text with while driving.
CAYMAN SHAME ON YOU!
Why would the Ministers Association in light of this report SIT QUIETLY AND ALLOW THE LIQUOR LICENSING BOARD TO GRANT " M O R E" LIQUOR LICENSES TO KILL MORE PEOPLE ON THE ROADS DURING THE HOLIDAYS?!
These are souls being lost on their way to a devil’s hell in a drunken state! taking others with them! Oh my God, what is happening to our beloved little Cayman Islae?
Ministers Association this is more important than the constitution, so we e3xpect you to STAND UP AGAINST THIS!
Why would You allow this to go on ? Pastor Al, this one is for you!
You want to crack down on poor driving? A great place to start would be the police force itself, because some of the driving I have seen being demonstrated by pollice is nothing short of horrendous. Exiting roundabouts with no signal, speeding, etc. The worst yet was when I was heading towards town coming from East End, and an officer in a car overtook around a blind corner and the driver in the oncoming lane had to swerve off the road to avoid a collision. (Now, if only I had a video camera that day). There was NO emergency as he had no siren or lights flashing.
OK ROUNDABOUT USERS! THE ONE COMING ON YOUR RIGHT ASTHE RIGHT OF WAY!! TO INDICATE YOUR INTENTION OF WHERE YOU WISH TO GO MEANS THAT YOU USED YOUR INDICATOR> YES< THAT’S WHAT IT"S FOR> GET IT!!!! and to the same white car who keeps trailing me close and passing me on the side, my solid 1994 truck is getting very tired fo you.
pls start policing the bypass double lane roads in the morning. When the traffic is flowing at 40 mph there is always a few who drive like they are in a James Bond movie weaving in and out of traffic. Its scary> Is there a law that says you cant change lanes 25 times every 200 meters?
Why hasn’t using a cell phone whilst driving been outlawed in this country?
Judging from the comments, enough people understand there is a clear connection between this activity and poor driving, so what exactly is the problem here?
Someone raised a good point about traffic stopping for pedestrians. Sure this is polite and very christian of you but it is insanely dangerous.
Chances are (especially if you drive an SUV or the person is little) traffic coming up behind you can’t see the pedestrian and will swerve and drive around your stationary car, not knowing that a pedestrian is about to step out from behind it.
I also saw someone do this recently in the rain not realising or caring that their brake lights weren’t working and sending cars skidding in all directions.
The police needs to be on hand in front of the Red Bay Primary for those drivers who make a 3rd line and illegally enter the second left turn and cutting in front of dozens of cars. One suggestion is that they move the "Give Way" sign and place it on the other road on the left.
What about the cars exiting the Red Bay school heading back to town? It is impossible to join the long line of cars already in the slip road. I know, I have to do it every morning.besides, all of the vehicles in that lane are the same ones trying to get ahead of the ones that have to stop at the round about at the bypass.
Given the recent discussions about driving whilst intoxicated and taxi’s not being a viable alternative I thought it would be nice to post the information for everyone. However, I tried googling the Public Transportation Board, taxi fares etc and have been most unsuccessful.
CNS or anyone could you please post information regarding taxis, their contact numbers and fares please.
This information should be readily available online.
And please set a cop just inside Lakeside’s parking lot in a ghost car and nail all these idiots that continue to pull over to the left side of the south bound lane waiting for an opening to do an illegal right hand turn into Lakeside.
I usual honk and give the idiot a dirty look and they always have a nervous/anxious expression on their face as they know they are in the wrong.
Half the time if they would simply proceed to the nearest roundabout and come back they would be no worse off as they often sit on the side of the road for the same amount of time it would take to drive around the roundabout.
Same goes for the idiots turning right when leaving Lakeside.
Idiots.
maybe the police should start by setting an example…i have NEVER seen a police car use indicators on a roundabout!
Every day of the week you can see the Police driving without there seat belts on. Some Police Officers pass the seat belt around the back of the seat and fasten it in to presumably stop any seat belt warning alarm! You regularly see the white unmarked Police car drivers without thier belts on and they are supposed to be the traffic department. The other day a white unmarked police car pulled out near me and failed to use his indicator three times that I saw.
If the Police and especially the Traffic Police fail to follow the rules of the road why on earth should the general public obey the law. Never mind the usual Christmas clampdown lets get the CIPS sorted out first and then sort out the rest of the Island.
RCIP
Do what the police do in the US. Around October through Christmas is their time to increase REVENUE!
Everyone gets a ticket for the least little violation.
This will help alleviate the reckless driving in Cayman.
Fill up the public purse with monies raised from reckless drivers, speeders, etc.
Also your Christmas bonus can be budgeted into the POLICE TICKETING!
IT IS VERY JUSTIFIABLE
They may be idiots, but the fact that the road layout gives them the opportunity to make that turn is the major issue.
99% of the time when you see someone do something stupid on Cayman’s roads the driver is busy talking on the phone and is usually oblivious to whatever they’ve just done
I agree with 99%…and most of the time it is in broad daylight when inconsiderate drivers ride so close to you that sometimes you can’t even see them in your rear view mirror. I am always in disbelief when I see someone so desperate to overtake even with a line of traffic going nowhere fast. Time to police the roads in the morning and going home from work time…and not on South Sound…try the bypasses!
Happened today in town today, one car into the back of a truck, another car into the back of that car. Never understand why anyone would want to drive so close to the car in front of them. Obviously different driving lessons and different driving test.
I forsee a lot of comments to this article, since we all consider ourselves to be such excellent drivers and assume the problem is with everyone else!
Personally I would love to know how many road deaths and injuries in Cayman are from drunk-driving. I think it’s easy to point the finger at drunk-drivers but that, in doing so, we might be missing the bigger problem of a lack of basic driving skills and consideration in Cayman.
For example, last night I was driving home on the bypass and came up behind a van that was going 25mph. I am sure that driver thought he was driving safely but I saw 3 cars overtake the van in a dangerous manner. Sure, the overtakers are at fault but if the van driver had some basic consideration and used his rear view mirror he might have sped up a bit.
Lane discipline is awful and I have seen police cars cruising along in the right hand lane with traffic going past on the left. It’s obvious that the majority of drivers here just simply don’t know the "keep left" rule. Likewise when turning right- move over so traffic can get by you on the left otherwise your ignorance could cause a crash 50 or 100m behind you in the traffic jam you just created.
I have learned through narrow misses that a green light here means "give way" not "go" since usually 2 or 3 cars scream through an intersection after the lights go red. And I’ve learned that cars at give way signs will usually only give way to the first three cars, then pull out regardless.
And don’t even get me started on the buses. It is only a matter of time before there is an big smash involving one of them and I just hope it is empty of passengers when it happens.
I think basic consideration and awareness of the drivers around you would be an easy way to make our roads much safer.
"just simply don’t know the "keep left" rule"
And what keep left rule would that be – you can overtake on either side, and it is better than constant lane changing, believe me. Like the left turn on red at traffic lights, two good bits of practice that has come from America that has not hit the UK
Driving on this island is terrible, but how many homicides and violent assaults have we seen this year? How about clamping down on violent crime? Oh no, I guess that would take more effort than handing out traffic tickets….
I would like to see this taken as an opportunity to address all bad driving habits, including: –
1). Excess speed
2). Using mobile phones
3). Straying out of lanes, particularly on corners
4). Not using indicators
5). Not understanding roundabouts (you only stop if there is a car approaching from your left, and only from your left. If, it is clear, go. The cars on your right wait for you.
6). Tail-gating. This is so dangerous and so many drivers do this.
7). Stopping to allow someone to cross the road. This holds up the flow of traffic and cars behind may not realize what you are doing, making it likely that they will crash into you from behind.
8). Pulling out from a side turning if there is not room. Any approaching cars should not have to even touch their brakes for you. They, not you, have right of way. If your maneuver will cause an approaching car to break, wait.
9). Not giving enough clearance for pedestrians and bikes. Again, they have right of way not you, because they are more venerable than you. If approaching a walker, runner, or cyclist and a car is coming towards you, hold back. Don’t try and squeeze through, so that all three of you (two vehicles and a bike for example) are side by side. This endangers lives.
I would also like to see stiffer custodial sentences for accidents caused by reckless or dangerous driving. I believe a driver has just been jailed for this.
There should never be any cars approaching from your left on a roundabout in Cayman…I think you mean the other left…ie the right
5). Not understanding roundabouts (you only stop if there is a car approaching from your left, and only from your left. If, it is clear, go. The cars on your right wait for you.
No, you definitely have this one wrong for our Cayman roundabouts.
You are supposed to give way to traffic entering on your right.
Back to driving school for you.
To I would like to see this……I can see that you are from over seas or you need to get driving lessons, we drive on the left in Cayman so when you come to a round about the car on the left has the right away at all times.
Concerning the driving in Cayman…..this is one of the few countries in the world that a driver can talk freely on their phones….. sending text and sending emails while driving. I would like the powers that be pass the law to prevent this from happening……I have had too many near misses with drivers on their phones and drifting into my lane especially in a round about…..a friend of mine almost lost his niece and her daughter to a driver sending text and driving and I think the police officers should know better than to be driving a squad car and using the phone.
I think using a phone while driving should be considered more dangerous than driving without seat belts on…….not to say we should not wear seat belts while driving.
"we drive on the left in Cayman so when you come to a round about the car on the left has the right away at all times"
Now I see why I have so many near misses at the round abouts in Cayman!
The First rule of round-a-bouts is that you must give way to vehicles approaching fromyour "right". The next rule is that while on a round about, the vehicle on your right (inside lane) also have the right of way to change lanes. Too many times I see crashes that occur because many drivers don’t know these two simple rules.
Monkeys Can’t Drive
female monkeys are worse…
Need to try and stop the police from speeding through Savannah and Prospect area. They have no regard for the speed limit
Or change the speed limit to a reasonable and rational one.
Good! It may be inconvenient for some of us but life is more valuable than the inconvenience!
why wait till monday why not start tonight???????????
This has been said 1000 times…LOWER TAXI PRICES! In turn you lower traffic volume, drunk drivers, speeders and ultimately fatalities!
The government must act by:
1. Ensuring that the driving test is to a high standard
2. Instituting a policy that everyone who arrives in Cayman – whatever their driving status – takes a test within 6-months. This will also be a good source of revenue.
3. Ensuring that the proper annual road testing of cars is carried out by the testing centre. The level of test is absolutely rediculous. Many, if not most, of the cars on the roads are dangerous.
4. Making sure the roads are kept in proper repair. For all the money spent on roads in Cayman, they are quitesimply dangerous. Many of the road lay out and junctions are poorly designed. We all the know the black spots.
5. Implementing laws that newly qualified drivers are restricted in the power of the machines they are allowed to drive. I believe new drivers in the UK can only drive up to a 1300 ccfor the first three years. Come on, this is a very sensible.
6. That car insurance companies apply HEAVY premiums on cars that are modified with wide bore exhausts and bigger air filters that boost their power. Some of the cars the kids are driving are rediculously powerful. Take these dangerous weapons out of their hands.
7. Directing the police to have zero tollerance for people being on their cell phones while driving. This is a big problem here that needs to be stamped on by a public relations campaign, active policing, and the levy of BIG fines.
8. Most of all — the government MUST implement a points endorsement system like they have in every other sensible country. Fines alone do not deter dangerous driving. But if a youngster knows he’ll loose the icense for his pimped-up Honda for a year if he gets caught without his seat belt on, or for speeding, or for being on his phone while driving, he’ll begin to think about what he’s doing a little harder. Drunk drivers should receive an immediate 1-year driving ban.
Come on, government, RCIPS, stop talking about the deaths on our roads and implement the obvious laws and police policies to stop our children being maimed and killed on our roads.
In UK there is no rules about limit what size engine you are allow to drive, only for motorbike not for cars. You can buy any size engine but it is the insurance often overprice these people out.
Vehicle testing should have same standard as in UK, MOT. They are one of most strict rules for ensure vehicle are safe for road use. In cayman islands is a joke for vehicle testing.
I’m sorry, but the BS about restricting engine size to me is a waste of time. You can kill yourself and/or someone else driving a tiny, beaten up, 4cyl,1991 Toyota Tercel doing 30 or 40mph. If someone wants to speed or drive badly, they can (and will), do it in any type of car. Prohibiting certain makes/models of cars (or in this case- engine sizes) will not stop people from doing these things. Efforts are better spent elsewhere when it comes to educating the public and forcing people to become more responsible and drive properly.
I hope the police do not confuse safety with setting up sneaky radar speed traps, which have little or nothing to do with safety.
At best. speed limits are only a guideline. There are many times, such as in heavy rain or poor visibility when speed limits are useless and anyone driving at them is driving dangerously.
Police need to remember this when they trap drivers who are actually driving very safely or are transitioning between speed limits when they are trapped.
Police should concentrate on real dangerous driving, such as passing in the center lanes, following too close, running lights, and driving too fast under unsafe conditions.
Sneaking around with ‘clever’ radar traps does nothing to increase road safety or respect for the police. Quite the opposite. Particularly obnoxious are radar traps set up in speed limit transition zones.
Many people feel the police are merely using radar traps to raise money for the government. And in many cases, they are right.
It must be rare when the police actually catch someone who is driving unsafely. Now that would be something which would raise respect.
I do not remember ever seeing one
"The clamp down starts Monday and cops warn they will be focusing on drink-driving and speeding."
…and I hope they will also be looking at drivers texting or talking on the cell phone just as relaxed as if they’re sitting in their favourite recliner at home. These activities look just as dangerous to me as drinking and speeding. Pull to the side of the road people if its that urgent and drive with your eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel! But that would mean that the police have a policy to do the same.
why don’t they crack down tonight? The RCIP baffle me
Not just bad driving habits, but any irresponsible dangerous use of the roads should be prosecuted.
Well said Inspector Barnett,and those of us who know you know you are speaking from your heart.
You never see and cops on the roads and when you do they are parked, on their phones while cars speed by
I agree with the Inspector’s suggestion/ advise.
Lets us all be responsible, drive carefully and notwaste any more lives.
We should not accept or pardon irresponsible drivers. we all carry cellphones– inform the police so that they could caution the driver.
Don’t drink and drive is what they say, but then on the other hand only 15 months in jail when you kill someone because you did? Not sure if that sentence really gave the right impression.
Stop ‘advising" and "calling everyone in the community to play their part" etc. The only ones listening are the ones who don’t drink and drive.The RCIPS needs to sit in cars outside bars and nightclubs and grab those who don’t put their lights on, don’t indicate when pulling out, race off at speed, blast music at huge decibels etc. All good cause to stop them and smell their breath and listen to their slurring words. As well as that, sit off the road on the straight bits all over the island and grab the speeders and breath test them if necessary. And by the way, this needs to be done all year round, not just at Xmas. Harassment? No, not if it is done professionally. And if it catches a dwi, then it is not harassment, it is enforcing the law -admittedly something we don’t like to do in Cayman.
Funny how it always takes a loss of life (6 of them at that) for policies to be initiated. Why not try to be pro-active and have police – working police! – at the exits of the hot spots and as a guy/girl stumbles out the door to their car and starts it, the cop is there to arrest them BEFORE they kill someone. Most of the time, the cops are just sitting in their cars waiting on a fight to break out when most of the time the real danger comes from the drunk drivers.
Eureka — prevention is better than cure (and since there is no cure for fatalities let’s start trying to prevent them)
No worries. If someone gets killed it is just 18 months in jail. Woo-hoo – drive on!
If the good Inspector wants to make a real impact he should have a word with the judiciary. Currently he can get them to court but then what…