Fourfold increase in tickets expected with speed cameras
The number of speeding tickets issued could increase fourfold or more after the installation of high-tech cameras in almost 30 locations around the island, the Commissioner of Police suggested.
Darrin Simons said it is expected that the evidence-grade detection devices — which can measure speed and recognise licence plates — will help to reduce speed and improve driving behaviours.
He noted that about 5,000 speeding tickets are issued each year but the figure could rise to upwards of 20,000 — at least as the community adjusts to the new measures.
Mr Simons said he believed that a portion of the cameras, which will be different from the CCTV cameras already in place, could be operational as soon as September.
However, he said full deployment, including the issuing of tickets, was unlikely to happen before Christmas.
Considering the expected increase in penalties, Mr Simons told the Gazette: “I think it’s going to be orders of magnitude.
“It would not be a surprise to me at all if we are up in the 20,000 region during the initial roll-out before driver behaviour changes.
“It could be significantly beyond that when you look at the sheer number of hours in one location these speed cameras can operate. It’s more than we’ve ever done.
“In Bermuda, we would have had probably a maximum of two or three locations at once with police officers, and they’re doing all of that manually. You’re now talking about 28 locations, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Mr Simons was quick to point out that the motive behind the cameras was to calm traffic rather than generate revenue.
He said: “The reason we want to be doing this enforcement is to create safer roads.
“We’re not doing it to generate revenue; we don’t need to hit quotas in particular. It all goes into the Consolidated Fund, but maybe some of that could be used to drive some education programmes.
“We want to reduce the level of speed, period, because speed increases the consequence of accidents.”
Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security, said last month that the system would be “up and running” in September, but Mr Simons pointed out that a number of measures needed to be taken before full implementation.
They include the potential hiring of employees to receive notifications and generate summonses.
Meanwhile, before a single ticket can be issued through the new system, amended legislation must be passed.
Mr Simons said: “Fundamentally, the legislation will authorise those cameras as a legitimate speed-detection device.
“At present, the legislation requires a summons with the ticket to be physically served on an individual. We want to also be able to serve those either via e-mail or [postal] mail.
“I’ve seen draft legislation and I think September is a very realistic timeline for these changes to be made.
“There are some challenges we are still working through. For example, we are exploring changing the licence plates to make them all reflective so the accuracy of the licence-plate recognition works even more effectively.”
Mr Simons said that once the system was in place, it could take about two to three weeks from when a speeding offence is committed to when a ticket is issued.
“Two things happen — speed is captured and a licence plate is captured,” he explained.
“All 28 locations are dedicated to speed and 19 are also dedicated to licence-plate recognition.
“The cameras can capture speed and the plate number almost instantaneously.
“After that, the licence plate is matched against an existing database and then it’s a question of what processes are you going to put into place to get it to the individual. There are people that need to be involved in that process.”
Mr Simons also reminded the public: “There is an offence of obscuring your licence plate.”
Police data shows Bermuda averages approximately one road fatality a month.
However, just six months into this year, there have been nine.
Mr Simons said he could not say with confidence that the cameras would result in a decrease in death or injury, despite that being his hope.
He explained: “I do think that speed enforcement will shift some of those attitudes and behaviour but how that translates into the reduction in serious accidents, and the reductions in fatalities, remains to be seen.
“We have done three times the level of regular enforcement before and still seen similar or serious injury and fatality rates.
“Then in 2024, we had just seven road traffic fatalities, which is statistically lower, but at the same time, levels of speed enforcement [at that time] were at some of their lowest.
“It's not directly correlated, and speed enforcement is just one significant variable in the whole road harm picture.”
Celeste Maycock, a consultant emergency physician at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, revealed at the launch of the Bermuda Road Safety Council’s five-year plan in May that more than 1,200 crash victims come through the doors of the emergency room annually.
She said that the hospital was overwhelmed as a result.
The Royal Gazette, in an editorial, made the case this month that speed cameras should be implemented urgently, outlining a litany of sobering statistics.
Our two-year Drive for Change campaign, launched in 2018 in partnership with A Piece of the Rock, called for the effective use of speed camera technology, non-selective roadside sobriety testing and the full implementation of a mandatory graduated licensing programme for all of the island's riders.
The Commissioner of Police said he believed there was no need to adjust Bermuda’s speed limit for the new camera system to work.
The speed limit is 35km/h in most locations, equivalent to 22mph.
While acknowledging that few motorists are ticketed for driving any slower than 50km/h, Darrin Simons said most jurisdictions allow for a “buffer zone”.
He explained: “I appreciate that there are very few people that adhere to that limit but what it does is create a buffer for us to target people at specific speeds.
“Nowhere in the world are people enforced at the legal limit.
“There's a formula that's applied, because even if you wanted to ticket at 35km/h, you have to have a plus or minus variance to allow for perhaps the devices being slightly off today. How can you guarantee that it was 36km/h?
“I'm content with the speed limit remaining at 35km/h and to vary the level at which we do enforcement according to the conditions that are present, and that vary day-to-day, moment by moment.
“There's a lot of science that goes into establishing speed limits.
“It's things about the width of the roads, the amount of vehicles that are travelling, cameras of the road and all these types of areas.
“When people are starting to hit 45, 47, 48km/h, that is when I think enforcement should be brought to bear.”
He said the speeds warranting a ticket could vary in different locations under different conditions, adding: “The way it's enforced as opposed to the specific legislation provides the flexibility that you can just recognise that there are different conditions in different areas and different risks in different areas, and they need to be proportionately policed.”
Mr Simons said a number of locations had been identified for the speed cameras and that while the procurement process continues, he would like to see as many across the island as possible.
He highlighted the importance of education and raising public awareness about the changes before they happen.
“Public messaging is coming; education around how the system’s going to work, who’s involved in making the decisions to issue a prosecution, who’s involved in verifying whether or not this capture is in fact an offence that should be ticketed, and just the fact that it will be happening,” the police commissioner said.
“It's going to be very significant.”
On the cost of implementation, Mr Simons said there has been $272,000 allocated annually for the next five years.
Darrin Simons wanted to share a message with residents as the island experiences a higher-than-normal road fatality rate so far in 2026.
The Commissioner of Police said: “I think it’s really important that each member of our community that gets on our roads to drive a vehicle or a bike needs to think about the changes that can happen, the consequences that can occur when they're not driving properly.
“Our average is one death on the roads per month but we are ahead of that already.
“I think people need to stop, slow down and think about the consequences to themselves and to their loved ones as they make driving choices.”
Referring to the introduction of speed camera technology, he added: “Speed cameras are coming.
“They're going to be in approximately 28 locations, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so you might want to spend some time thinking about how you’re going to change or modify your driving behaviours to take into consideration that new reality.”
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