Nearly $16,000 in fines were handed out to 20 motorists convicted of driving without due care and attention in Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Most appearances at the packed court session were motorcyclists guilty of “third laning”, which is subject to an $800 fine and ten demerit points.

The marathon hearing followed a weekend in which there were 21 separate crashes on the island’s roads.

Bermuda Police Service Inspector Robert Cardwell said the crackdown on careless driving was sending “a strong message”.

Zachary Foley, 18, from Paget, racked up $2,850 in fines for leading police on a chase through the streets of Hamilton on the night of September 13.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo heard that a police motorcycle patrol observed Foley doing a “wheelie”, driving with the front wheel off the road, on Par-la-Ville Road at about 9.30pm.

Foley accelerated when officers put on emergency lights.

The court heard the defendant ran several red lights and stop signs, and drove against the flow of traffic on Angle Street before he was halted.

The chase ended when Foley lost control of his bike on King Street and crashed into a fence by Middle Town Road.

He told police: “I had weed in my bike.”

The licence sticker on the back of the bike had also been altered to suggest the vehicle was insured.

However, both Foley’s insurance and driving licence expired in 2016.

Foley, who pleaded guilty, was fined $300 for fraudulent use of a document, $150 for failing to stop for police, $250 for riding an unlicensed cycle, $150 for having no valid driver’s licence, and $1,000 each for dangerous driving and riding with no insurance.

Mr Tokunbo also banned him from the roads for 18 months.

In a separate case, William Tucker, 32, of Southampton, was fined $800 and had ten points added to his licence for driving a car without due care and attention on Camp Road, Warwick, on September 13.

The court heard that a marked police car turned a corner and met Tucker’s car partially in the same lane.

The police car hit the sidewalk after being forced to swerve to avoid a collision. Tucker subsequently got out and apologised to the officers.

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