The tragic death of American visitor Martha Hoopes in a road crash on Monday serves as yet another reminder of the dangers that our roads present.

Ms Hoopes is the third road death that the Island has suffered this year, and also the third in just a few weeks, and this should serve as a reminder that there is no room for complacency.

It is not possible to speculate on the exact cause of Ms Hoopes' death or of other fatalities while the Police investigations are ongoing, but that does not detract from the general fact that people continue to drive and ride with little regard for their lives or others.

Ms Hoopes' death has already renewed debate on whether visitors get sufficient training before they head out on the road – and even whether visitors should be riding livery cycles at all. The depressing thing about this – and Junior Transport Minister Sen. Waynes Caines has already made similar statements – is that no matter what is said, the message does not seem to be getting through that bad driving habits, speeding, dangerous driving and impaired driving cost lives.

And those who think "it couldn't happen to me" don't give consideration to what might happen to them as a result of someone else's carelessness.

It is past time for the whole community to come together on this problem. Government needs to consider harsher deterrents for those who break the rules of the road, the Police need to expand their presence on the roads (and not just for a few days) and those who have been severely injured or who have lost friends and family need to step up to bring home the message that bad driving kills.