Driving on Bermuda?s roads has become such a daunting prospect that many visitors are now unwilling even to venture out on rented mopeds for fear of their own safety.

Instead they are relying on buses, ferries and taxis rather than risk having an accident on the Island?s congested roads because of increasing instances of bad driving and even road rage.

In an effort to curb increasing law-breaking and wayward behaviour of dangerous drivers tough new measures were passed by Parliament yesterday.

Drivers who commit offences in future face having demerit points added to their licence on a sliding scale depending on the seriousness of the offence. Any driver who accumulates 12 or more points will lose their licence and be banned from driving any vehicle until enough of the demerit points have expired to bring their total back below 12.

Demerit points will stay on a driver?s licence for two years after the date of conviction for the offence.

Similar penalty point systems are already used in other countries including the UK, USA and Canada. presented the new regulations to the House for approval and said Bermudians? cordial demeanour seems to ?evaporate? when they get in their car or kick-start their motorbike.

That is why Bermuda now needs a progressive system of punishment as laid down in the Traffic Offences (Penalties) Amendment Act.

Running a red light, speeding and other traffic offences will, in future, attract penalty points leading to disqualification, and Dr. Brown said the points system has positively influenced driving behaviour in other countries.asked why it had taken the Government so long to come up with the proposals when such an idea had already been expressed as long ago as 1997 in the United Bermuda Party?s traffic and road survey discussion paper that he had overseen.

Mr. Furbert was critical of what he termed ?a progressive system of punishment? that seemed not to be part of any overall road safety vision and he wondered why there was not a more measured approach to trying to correct an errant driver through a first offence warning, second offence interview with the Road Safety Council and then a driving education programme if the driver is still found to be committing motoring offences.

Only then, in the opinion of Mr. Furbert, should the ultimate sanction of points and disqualification come in to play., whose remit includes public safety, replied: ?The issue is about changing the attitude of these people driving on the roads. People will know the number of points they will get before they are removed from the roads.?

He said the Opposition benches were ?always talking about this side of the House being soft on crime? but now seemed to be saying that the punishments being introduced were too much.

It was who raised the concerns of the growing number of visitors opting not to see the Island on a rented moped because of their fears about dangerous driving by other road users.

?Visitors today are frightened to death to go on the roads. We?ve build up the buses and ferries, but one of the challenges is that they do not give visitors the change to go to the nice spots that they could on a rented motorbike,? he said, in particular referring to visitors in their 40s, 50s and 60s who were most reluctant to hop on a bike.

He wondered where was the Government?s ?bigger picture? for road safety and how were the motoring offenders going to be caught in the first place.

?It appears to me that we do not have enough of a patrol system on the roads. How often do you hear people say ?Boy, I wish the Police were here right now?? You have to catch them (bad drivers) to be able to enforce this,? he said.defended the Government pointing out that road safety measures have been introduced around schools, including speed bumps, coloured paving and a roadside sign displaying the speed of passing cars near the Whitney Institute Middle School in Smith?s.

Speed cameras are also coming to the Island as a further deterrent against speeding motorists, said .

But expressed concern about the apparent lack of actual detail in the amended act, explaining how the points system will work, such as when an offender acquires 12 or more points but these are issued for minor offences that are dealt with by roadside fines and not by Magistrates? Court.

Mr. Barritt wondered who then will be responsible for making the driver surrender their licence and how will a disqualified motorist get their licence back when enough demerit points have expired?

Replying Dr. Brown said the UBP?s 1997 road safety discussion paper appeared to have been ?designed by social workers? and ?someone who was soft on criminal behaviour?.

He said the Road Safety Council?s budget is being increased and the Transport Control Department will be responsible for administrating licence disqualifications as is already the case.

Dr. Brown, who claimed that the previous night he had seen some motorbikes being ridden in a way more suited to a ?circus environment?, said the emphasis he was trying to put across was not how people go about getting their licence back but how they will lose their licence in the first place for repeated bad driving.

The amended act was passed by the House and will be enacted at a date yet to be set.