How would the country react if the eight people killed so far in 2005 on Bermuda?s roads had been murdered? Head of the Traffic Investigative Unit Insp. Terry Spencer posed the question yesterday. ?Why do we trivialise the loss of life on Bermuda?s roads?? he added.

?That mother does not feel any less pain.?

The preliminary estimate of 475 road traffic collisions so far this year is actually way off base, he said ? in fact, the problem is much worse.

By the end of March the country had seen a total of 656 collisions ? now, in mid-May, the total is closing in on 1,000.

That means that Bermuda could be facing more than 1,600 more collisions this year, with a possible total of 2,600 collisions in 2005. On average, that means the country is looking at seven accidents per day for the rest of the year, approximately one collision for every 40 residents. Mathematically, if fatal accidents continue at the rate they have so far this year, 21 people in total will die on Bermuda?s roads in 2005 ? eight so far this year with another 13 to go.

And the Traffic Investigative Unit is nearing the end of their rope ? feeling helpless and frustrated, they are acutely aware that almost all the fatal collisions which have occurred this year ? all the brutal sights they have seen, all the frantic families they have had to deal with ? were preventable. ?You don?t know how frustrating it is,? an emotional Insp. Spencer said yesterday.

Barely a week ago, two cars were racing west from St. George?s, he said. Reaching speeds of between 80 and 100 kph, they were on Marsh Folly Road when they collided with the tree in the divider which divides Marsh Folly Road from Canal Road. The collision was so violent that, more than a week later, investigators are still unable to find the wheel of one of the cars.

The young men driving the car, Insp. Spencer said, had been pall bearers at the funeral of 21-year old Scott Kozma barely a week before. Mr. Kozma was killed on April 29 when he sped through a junction and collided with another vehicle. ?They had mementoes (of Scott) on their clothing,? Insp. Spencer said. ?If it wasn?t for the side impact and steering wheel airbags, we would?ve been looking at two more fatalities. They had just buried their friend a week before.

?So what are we supposed to do? Death means nothing to them. What?s it going to take to get the message across? We?re getting to the point where our comments are redundant. We?re repeating the same thing over and over again.

?What can we do that we haven?t already done??

Police are enforcing traffic laws, he added. Anyone can go into Magistrates? Court and witness first-hand the sheer numbers of people brought up on traffic offences. ?We?ve already issued more than 1,000 tickets this year,? Insp. Spencer added. ?We are enforcing the law. More patrols are not needed. Better drivers are needed.

?We have to come at it from different angles.?

Explaining his frustration, he said Police can only react to collisions and bad driving ? but what is desperately needed is prevention. The problem must be tackled from the other end, ?not when we?re already scraping them off the street?.

?Education is the key, I fervently believe that. Before and after you get your licence ... We are working diligently behind the scenes but we need help from the people.

?We can do it, we are a small jurisdiction ? this isn?t the US or the UK. We have a good chance if we have a concentrated, concerted effort ... But we have to get serious and we have to get tough. We have to really, really want to do it. This has developed over a long period of time and there is no quick fix.? A multi-agency strategic approach is needed, he said, but the biggest buy-in must come from those on the roads.

?We?re not in people?s cars, we?re not on the back of their bikes. They have to make some wise decisions. It?s insane that people take the risks and chances they do.

?All of this is preventable.?