Chief Inspector Nicholas Pedro - As many of you will no doubt be aware, four Bermudians tragically lost their lives on Bermuda’s roads already this year (2015).

In the years 2013-2014, 25 Bermudians lost their lives – meaning that in the preceding 29 months, 29 persons have lost their lives by way of road traffic collisions. This is an average of one death a month.

90% of all collision related deaths between 01-January-2013 to today, were Bermudians. Of these, 76% were black Bermudian males.

Interestingly in 2013-14 the most common day of serious collisions was Sundays between 10:00am & 6:00pm – a traditional social and sporting time frame – with 23.2% of all serious collisions reported to Police occurring on these days.

I will state that our data may differ somewhat than that held at the hospital, as some accidents go unreported, but the data is clear as to who is most at risk from serious injury or death on our roads.

As we transition into the Summer season, we are only too cognizant that all Bermudians will ready themselves for the May 24th, Heroes Weekend, and other social and sporting events that go along with summer traditions on our Island.

On January 20th this year, the Bermuda Police Service released our Road Safety Strategy with three central tenets:

Enforcement & Awareness; Prevention & Education; Deter & Rehabilitate

This weekend, the Bermuda Police Service will be placing special attention on our role in this process, with an awareness and enforcement campaign across Bermuda.

Through data analysis, we have found that there are five locations where the majority of serious injury collisions occurred in 2013-14. These are –

1.         Middle Road Warwick between junctions of Morgan Road (Lindo’s) and as far west as Burnt House Hill;

2.         Middle Road Southampton between junctions of Lighthouse Road to the vicinity of Five Star Island;

3.         North Shore Road Hamilton junctions of Studio Lane (Shelly Bay stretch) to Coney Island Road;

4.         South Road Paget junctions of Southcote Road (Horizons) to Harvey Road;

5.         Somerset Road Sandys junctions of Scotts Hill Road to Cambridge Road

6.         East Broadway in Hamilton is also identified as a frequent fatal and serious injury collision spot.

To this end, members of the motoring public can expect to see our officers in these, and other locations raising awareness about the risk of serious injury or death from driving or riding at excessive speed, without due care & attention, or driving or riding while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Officers will be exercising professional judgment by issuing a combination of motorist warning notices, tickets, and/or making arrests as the circumstances dictate.

We are urging all members of the community to take steps to ensure that our husbands, sons, brothers, wives, sisters & mothers do not drink & drive.

We are asking every member of the community to ask themselves, “Before I get on my bike or in my car, have I had too much to drink?”

The death toll on our roads tells us that the community must move to take action.

The Bermuda Police Service will do its’ role through awareness & enforcement, but road safety is a collective effort that all members of the community must reinforce – Family, Friends, Bartenders or even strangers.

We will be using our various Social Media platforms to provide live feeds about our officers’ locations and information over the weekend, and follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds for updated information.

I urge everyone to consider the statistics, and consider the safety of everyone by your presence on the roads. Think before you act, and hopefully you may save a life.