As part of the `Life in the Fast Lane' series this week, The Royal Gazette wished to construct an accurate map of road traffic collision hotspots on the Island to ensure the public were aware of where extra caution should be taken while driving.

However this was quickly deemed nearly impossible due to the sheer volume of collisions which take place on the Island every day.

The Royal Gazette contacted Police last week for a list of collisions in the past year. Police agreed, and began working backwards from last week to earlier in the year.

However more than 500 accidents were listed by the time they hit June - around 37 collisions per day.

And those statistics included only the collisions where damage were done - they did not include any where people were actually injured.

In order to make the list more manageable in the time permitted, Police released a list of the fatal accidents from 1987 up until August 17, 2003, the night 20-year old Alshe Caisey died in a road collision.

The map constructed from that list does not show an entirely accurate picture of where the collision hotspots are on the Island.

For example the stretch of North Shore that runs along Shelly Bay was not particularly highlighted, nor was Harbour Road, despite their well-known reputations as dangerously frequent collision areas.

However the picture the map showed was nevertheless alarming.

The two most frequent areas for fatal collisions were on Palmetto Road in Devonshire and Somerset Road in Sandys.

Though Palmetto Road is a mere fraction the size of South Shore Road, an equal number of people have been killed on both roads since 1987 - 14 on each.

The majority of those who died on Palmetto Road were in fatal collisions located in the area between Roberts Avenue and Palmetto House.

Somerset Road appeared even more dangerous, with 12 people killed just in the area between Heydon Lane and Cambridge Road.

The corner in front of St. James Church was a particularly lethal area, and more deaths further west along Malabar Road brought the total road fatalities in Sandys since 1987 to 20.

In fact, both Sandys and Southampton have had 20 road deaths each since 1987, making the entire West end appear a particularly dangerous area to drive in.

This is in comparison to the total deaths in the two easternmost parishes, St. George's and Hamilton parish, which had a combined total of 25.

However, thanks in part to the danger of Palmetto Road Devonshire was shown to be the most deadly parish to drive in, with 26 deaths in all.

Harrington Sound Road was also highlighted as a fatal collision hotspot, however only in Smith's, and not where the road runs in Hamilton Parish.

Surprisingly, according to the fatal statistics Harbour Road appeared to be one of the safer roads to drive along, with only two deaths since 1987.

However, like the Shelley Bay stretch of North Shore Road, Harbour Road is well-known as a frequent collision spot. There were 19 deaths along North Shore, which raises eyebrows considering it is similar in length to Harbour Road and only about half the length of South Shore Road.

Middle Road was also highlighted as a dangerous area, with 28 deaths in total.

This was not entirely surprising, considering that - at least, in the West end - Middle Road is considered the fastest route to and from the city of Hamilton, and is thus the preferred choice of those in a hurry.

The vast majority of the fatal accidents took place on the main roads. The safer parishes to drive in appeared to be Warwick (11 fatalities), St. George's and Paget (ten fatalities in each).