The deaths of three people on the roads in a little more than a week have put Bermuda back on a pace to exceed the 17 killed in 2008.

That may seem to be little more than a cold statistic, but those three people had families, friends, jobs and futures, until they died. So did the other six people who have died so far this year.

And their deaths also put Bermuda in an unpleasantly exclusive club, because it means we have one of the highest road fatality rates in the world, for the second year running. That's nothing to be proud of.

Dr. Joseph Froncioni, who has done more to study this problem than almost anyone else in Bermuda, wrote recently about how very small increases in speed can disproportionately increase the death rate.

Tomorrow he will discuss how another small measure – whether the strap on a helmet is tight enough – can have an enormous impact on whether a bike rider lives or dies.

Recently, Government passed laws restricting young people's use of their bikes between the ages of 16 and 18. This is welcome legislation, because it is this group that is disproportionately likely to be involved in crashes.

That step, along with small steps like better enforcement of the speed limit and tightening helmets, can save lives now. We need to do it.