More Police on the streets. Speed radars. Tougher penalties. Education initiatives...

Bermudians have any number of answers to the challenge of making the roads more safe.

Some people even spoke from the painful experience of being involved in an accident themselves.

MacDonald Simmons, a veteran of several bumps, is a case in point.

He said he personally was able to slow down when he started riding a bike with lower power like a 50cc.

A self-proclaimed speed lover, Mr. Simmons said he wanted to see education start in the household.

"Before children get their licence they need to be educated by their family and adults need to be informed.

"Personally, if you care about yourself and your children you will care about people in general." Mr. Simmons spoke as The Royal Gazette took a walk through the streets of Hamilton in the wake of Island-wide concern over a rash of road deaths.

Celia Correia summed up much of the thinking.

"People's mentality on the roads is causing a lot of the problems and people need more patience. There really isn't much that can be done but there does need to be more Police out on the street."

Gary Weller agreed that there needed to be more Police on the roads but he wanted to see them out during the late night hours, which he said was the most important time.

"The average people in court aren't the crazy ones driving at excessive speeds, the crazy ones are out late at night," he said. "The Police need to be on the roads late because that's when they're doing the foolish things."

Mr. Weller also recommended cutting down the overcrowding of Bermuda's roads and pushing up the driving age limit.

Along with a greater Police presence, Jessica Siggins wanted to see harsher punishments dished out to offenders.

"There needs to be more Police on the streets but when they get caught people shouldn't just be fined for speeding and reckless driving they should be taken off the roads," she said.

Some people who called for a stronger Police presence also argued that speed radars could be a deterrent.

"Making people more attentive while they're driving is important because most accidents happen due to excessive speeds. Bringing radars out at all hours is key because it gets people's attention and they are more likely to abide by the speed limit. People know there is no deterrent right now," said Bobby Rego.

Along with increasing Police visibility on the streets people also wanted to implement education initiatives.

Patrick Hamett said there was always a big "hurrah" when there was a large amount of accidents on the road but he said there needed to be a continuous programme to prevent the accidents in the first place.

"Education needs to start at the primary level in schools. These problems have been going on for so many years so we must implement some type of plan and continue with it."

Mr. Hamett also wanted to see more Police out on the roads.

Talking to children about road safety was important to Gordon Fletcher who also wanted to see traps set up to stop people speeding. His daughter Sonia Allen, a visitor to the Island, said: "There needs to be an area where they can get the speed out of their system if there is some place they can go to just pull back the throttle as much as they want."

Vincent Roberts also wanted to see a place where people could drive fast without causing any harm to other people.

"We need to provide some means for people to get their adrenaline rush. Bring back the night racing series so if they want they can go out and be silly."

People need to be more vigilant on the roads according to Celia Medeiros.

" Ride slow, take your time, observe people around you and just follow the rules," she said.