Statistics show that motorcyclists and their passengers are most at risk of road death in Bermuda, according to Shadow Transport Minister Michael Fahy.

But he insisted that simple road safety steps could reduce the number of fatalities and injuries, including riders properly securing their helmets.

Senator Fahy said the "tragic road traffic death" of 38-year-old motorcyclist Moses Jacobs on Monday pointed to a "disturbing but important fact of life on our roads: the extreme vulnerability of motorbike riders to injury".

He added: "Of the 45-plus road deaths over the past three years, all but one have been bike riders or their passengers.

"There is a raft of measures I have discussed in recent months that can be implemented to reduce this terrible toll."

His ideas include installing "cat's eye" road reflectors to improve night and bad weather visibility, introducing more skid resistant road surfacing, having more Police on the roads and bringing in traffic calming measures, such as road humps.

Sen. Fahy said the most important measure would be to introduce zero tolerance for drink-driving.

"The correlation between road accidents and alcohol is incontrovertible," he said. "In this regard, the Government can provide the Bermuda Police Service with the legal basis for implementing random mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints with the use of portable breathalysers."

There were 17 road deaths last year, compared to 13 in both 2006 and 2005. Mr. Jacobs, the third road fatality of 2009, suffered massive head and internal injuries after crashing his bike into a residence on Middle Road, Southampton, at about 5.40 a.m. on Saturday.

His loved ones say he did not drink alcohol and would have been on his way to the gym before work.