Dear Sir,

I would like to draw the attention of the Bermuda Road Safety Council and the transport minister to the reckless driving that has invaded Bermuda.

With two road deaths in a period of 24 hours last week, it is high time that measures are taken to put a stop to the careless driving. In fact, just last week, I narrowly escaped being run over by a truck leaving Burchall’s Cove at the intersection with Old Road and North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish.

The driver was going at an unnecessarily high speed for such a narrow street; he not only failed to stop at the end of the road before joining Old Road, which has right of way, but didn’t even look for approaching cars or motorcycles.

This was the third such case in a period of two months at that junction. It’s only a matter of time before an innocent driver becomes another statistic.

The public are aware that we have a problem in Bermuda, and the Government is trying to implement measures through Road Safety Week, the recently released documentary A Piece of the Rock, etc, but as another article recently commented, the issue is not always related to speed or driving under the influence — sometimes it is simply carelessness and not paying attention to the roads.

All stems from poor driver’s education and licensing requirements, and a lack of road safety measures.

At the junction mentioned earlier, the hedge is overgrown and drivers leaving Burchall’s Cove have poor visibility of oncoming traffic — although no excuse for the remiss driving, it is a simple fix. Perhaps a more desperate solution is the instalment of a speed bump.

I would like to emphasise that the public, who are the worst sufferers, must continue to advocate for measures to be taken to end negligent driving and to be mindful on the road themselves.

It’s time for change.

IVA WONG