Dear Sir,

The number of accidents on Bermuda’s roads, fatal and otherwise, has become a real cause for concern. This is not just an issue that is the burden of our elected officials, the Government and Opposition, and the Bermuda Police Service, but an issue that should be on the hearts and minds of each of us.

The question that can be readily asked is, “What can be done to change the dangerous course on which so many of our fellow Bermudians and residents are travelling?”

It would be great if there were one solution or a series of simple solutions to resolve this vexing problem. There are not.

In the absence of a perfect solution, we offer an idea of establishing a traffic patrol that could be a step in the right direction.

We view the Traffic Patrol as being an organisation that relieves the Bermuda Police Service of the bulk of traffic control.

Examples are operation of radar, observation of traffic movement, attendance to accidents where there are no personal injuries, issuance of tickets for traffic offences and directing traffic when required. Very important would be the high visibility such a service would provide acting as a deterrent to those who are bent on flouting traffic laws and demonstrating a lack of courtesy and care for other road users.

With budgetary restraints in place, it is important that any proposed idea has a component of cost savings. Thus the Traffic Patrol, as we envision it, would be made up of already trained retired or former police officers and past and present members of the Bermuda Reserve Constabulary.

The personnel would be part-time and paid an hourly rate. The foregoing suggestions could also have the effect of reducing the overall size of the BPS.

These suggestions in no way reflect negatively on the good work that the BPS does in so many areas of law enforcement and community service in Bermuda. However, there is only so much that the BPS can do when the commission of serious crimes require a concentration of personnel and efforts.

CHARLES H. JEFFERS