Government is undertaking a series of projects to try and make Bermuda’s roads safer and stop more accidents, Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess said today.

The announcement was made in the wake of the death of 31-year-old Earlston Kavon Bailey Smith, who died on Monday morning after his bike crashed at the junction of Corkscrew Hill and Crow Lane, a recognised accident blackspot.

Today Mr. Burgess said his Ministry had recently asked Police for a list of frequent accident spots and said he had just returned from a UK trip where he met authorities from London to talk about road safety measures.

Road safety work has already taken place at Corkscrew Hill but Mr. Burgess said work is currently taking place at another blackspot — the area of Middle Road, Southampton just east of Five Star Island. Resurfacing work is taking place along with the installation of stud reflectors.

At Barnes Corner, in Southampton, another frequent accident spot, the road has been recently re-surfaced and new reduce speed signs have been erected to encourage traffic calming – with the new signs indicating a maximum speed of 25kph on the bend.

Mr. Burgess added: “Recently, we have also installed calming devices like rumble strips, speed humps and reduced speed signage in other areas of the Island, including the town of St. George and Flatts Village, in an effort to reduce speeding, undoubtedly a principal contributing factor to the unacceptably high incidence of traffic collisions in Bermuda.”

Full story in tomorrow’s Royal Gazette