A fresh bid to drive death off the roads was kick-started yesterday in an alliance geared up to breathe new life into the Project Ride safety scheme for youngsters.

Road Safety Council chairman Delcina Bean-Burrows said she hoped Safe Roads Now -- Project Ride would attract at least half of the 1,000 youngsters due to turn 16 in this academic year -- and that she wanted it to be mandatory by 2001 at the latest.

The new initiative will be boosted by advertisements in newspapers and on radio and TV. And veteran TCD examiner Richard Outerbridge -- a graduate of the Police motorcycle training school -- has been signed up as national coordinator for Project Ride.

New trainers have also been recruited and are being trained as Project Ride tutors.

And Mrs. Bean-Burrows appealed for parents to insist their children signed up for the latest course.

She said: "We as a community are only too painfully aware of the staggering death toll and injuries on our roads. We need the community to get behind Project Ride whenever and wherever we can.'' And she warned: "As it stands, Project Ride is our best hope in keeping our roads safe.'' Mrs. Bean-Burrows was speaking as she teamed up with Transport Minister Ewart Brown, Road Safety Officer Roxanne Christopher, and other concerned parties to re-launch Project Ride.

The grim death toll on Island roads pushed towards the 20 mark last year -- one of the worst on record in recent times. Mrs. Bean-Burrows added that around 1,000 youngsters were set to become 16 in the next few months, with an estimated 900 of them likely to sit the test to drive auxiliary cycles.

She said as few as 100 students took part in Project Ride in the recent past.

But Mrs. Bean-Burrows added: "The RSC wants to see enrolment for Project Ride to total no less than 500 students.'' She admitted, however, that a voluntary programme was not the ideal way forward.

Mrs. Bean-Burrows said: "A compulsory programme is the only way to be foolproof in terms having safety on the road from the word go.

"But if we continue to keep it as an extra-curricular activity, it will continue to be underutilised.'' She added other safety messages being hammered home include the use of headlights in daylight hours to improve visibility for other road users and a commitment from youngsters not to tow passengers until they have amassed one year's experience behind the handlebars.

Road safety blitz launched Dr. Brown said: "Every year in Bermuda, we see a number of our fellow-Bermudians dying on the roads -- sometimes not because of their faulty riding habits, but nonetheless, 90 percent of them are on bikes.'' But he insisted: "Road safety saves lives -- there is no doubt about that.'' He said: "There is no way we could do too much in the way of road safety.'' Dr. Brown admitted: "We know there may not be an overwhelming response first time, but we know if we do nothing, it will get worse.'' Ms Christopher said the 12-hour programme covers both practice and theory to ensure the best start on the roads.

And she backed parents pressuring their youngsters into the course as a condition of bike ownership -- as well as making it compulsory down the road.

Ms Christopher said: "Teenagers do not know automatically how to ride or handle an auxiliary cycle.

"This course will provide them with the necessary skills needed to handle our unique Bermuda roads.'' She added: "The educational value of Project Ride can only assist our young people in teaching them the skills required to avoid getting on the wrong side of the law.

"The rules and laws of our roads are strongly emphasised in this programme.''