Driving and riding habits must change in Bermuda - and Police enforcement must be stepped up if road fatalities are to be reduced, the Road Safety Council has warned.

Chairman Dr. Joseph Froncioni said people would continue to be killed on the roads in great numbers unless motorists slowed down and the Police Traffic Unit expanded at least three-fold.

He spoke at length to The Royal Gazette about what he saw as the major problems behind the rising number of vehicle collisions, and possible solutions, and said he was never surprised by the carnage on the roads.

But the orthopaedic surgeon, who regularly operates on road crash victims, said much of what he saw was preventable.

"Nearly every time I'm on call, which is once every five days, I end up fixing a victim of a road collision," said Dr. Froncioni.

"It's something that happens all the time. I am never surprised by the number of collisions there are in Bermuda. The only surprise I have is how few people get killed in view of the disregard on the roads here.

"Just about everybody speeds, but there is not enough manpower (in the Police) to stop people.

"I think the speeding fines are sufficient, but they are too few. We need more officers in the traffic unit targeting those people who break motoring laws. I think we need three times as many officers in the unit as we have now."

Dr. Froncioni became chairman of the Road Safety Council three years ago because he believed, as a doctor, his job was to help prevent injury, as well as to repair it.

But he said he sometimes found it frustrating when motorists did little to keep themselves safe, and instead blatantly failed to respect their lives or the roads.

He said, like everywhere in the world, traffic density had increased in Bermuda, as had a lack of patience, more aggression and the need for speed.

"I think most observers in Bermuda will agree that the average speed has crept up from a common sense level," added the chairman.

"I got here 15 years ago and if you went over 40 kph there was a tremendous chance that you would get pulled over. I am also sure there were more Police officers working on traffic then.

"But now the average speed is 50, or more, and people think they are safe to drive or ride at 50 and not get pulled over. But the increase in that speed by 10 kph has had a huge impact on the injuries and fatalities.

"It does not take a huge mistake to cause a collision that will have a huge impact."

He said it was usual for motorists around the world to drive over the speed limit by about ten percent, but in Bermuda it was common for motorists to break the limit by about 50 percent.

He said that had to stop.

Bermuda has recorded nine road deaths this year so far - four of them in the last month - prompting Police and Government to launch a zero tolerance crackdown on dangerous practises.

Police said they would be targeting speeding, drink driving and all manner of dangerous driving, including poor overtaking.

But how successful that campaign will be, and what effect it will have, remains to be seen.

However, because Bermuda is so small and the number of fatalities each year is relatively low, Dr. Foncioni said it was impossible to say that trends were developing.

Last year, there were only two deaths on the roads, but already, only eight months in, and 2003 has racked up nine.

Dr. Frioncioni said what people failed to appreciate was that the speed limit had been set at 35 kph here because of the nature of the Island's road - taking into account the fact they were narrow, windy, heavily shadowed by trees and with few sidewalks.

He said when people went over that speed limit, there was very little room for error.

However, the surgeon said he found the single most preventable injury was to the head, yet so many people suffered head trauma in collisions.

"We get about 40 head injuries a year, which are serious enough to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. About ten percent of those head injury patients end up with a permanent disability, a certain percent end up requiring custodial care, and a certain percent end up not being able to return to the same level of work."

Dr. Froncioni said he believed not wearing a helmet properly had become one of the biggest causes of road injuries on the Island.

"In my personal observation, I would say not wearing a helmet properly has become a cool, macho, fashionable and brave thing to do in the last five years," he added.

"There is no social group or age group that does not do it. I have seen it in every age and in both sexes and I can't understand why these people won't fasten their helmets properly.

"It's simply a lazy thing to do, except the consequences are huge. Riding around without your helmet strap untied is basically riding around without a helmet. The first thing that happens when you are in a collision is that your helmet flies off."

Dr. Froncioni said a lot of the injuries he saw related to the victim not wearing a helmet properly or the victim wearing an inferior or old helmet.

"It's just a piece of plastic so it degrades with the sun and with the oil from your head, so helmets really do need to be replaced," he added.

"I would say three years in Bermuda is the life of a helmet. They get stress fractures from being dropped and so on, which makes them weaker.

"But a helmet has to work for that two or three milli-second when your head impacts on the kerb or a wall. If it doesn't work properly, then it was a waste of time wearing it."

However, despite the need for good quality helmets, he said few people invested heavily in them.

"Most kids who ride bikes have spent more money on their school shoes or pants than they have on their helmet.

"I point to the parents, as well. Most parents have shown no concern about the helmet their kid wears. A caring parent should buy the very best helmet they can afford for their child. It could save their life."

The doctor said people who wore helmets tended not to suffer such "gross" head injuries, such as open fractures and permanent damage.

But where helmets have flown off in collisions, then the brain, like a computer, would often shut down.

"It is then that you begin to get the grosser injuries - such as the open brain injuries where the scalp and the skull have been penetrated by the object," said Dr. Froncioni.

"Without a helmet then there is only so much impact the brain can take - you could die simply by falling two feet.

"But the beauty of a helmet is that it's designed to absorb the energy and hopefully spread that impact over the large part of the head. But if your helmet is not on properly, then you have no chance."