A 19-year-old Pembroke man was last night in the intensive care unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after sustaining serious head injuries following a motorcycle accident over the weekend.

It happened around 4.25 a.m. yesterday at the junction of North Shore Road and Palmetto Road in Devonshire, near the Barkers Hill round-a-bout. It appears the Pembroke man was on the cycle with an 18-year-old Hamilton Parish man, travelling east on Palmetto Road.

The rider lost control and collided with the western 'island' of the round-a-bout. Both men were thrown from the cycle as a result. The Pembroke man also suffered cuts and bruising to his body and was taken to hospital via ambulance for treatment.

The Hamilton Parish man sustained cuts and bruising to his body. He was taken to hospital and was later released. The motorcycle was extensively damaged.

Inquiries into this incident are underway and Police are appealing for any witnesses to this collision or anyone with information to contact P.c. Robert Butterfield on 295-0011.

It comes after earlier this month, Government Senator Wayne Caines called for dire measures to be taken regarding road safety after a high volume of road accidents were being recorded.

To make matters worse, the Island last Monday, recorded its third road fatality for 2008 after the tragic death of American visitor Martha Susan Hoopes, who collided with a van on a rental cycle.

Her nine-year-old daughter survived, but suffered serious injuries after being pinned underneath the van. Last week she was transferred to a hospital in Chicago, where the family resides.

Targeting young riders, Sen. Caines endorsed a slew of drastic recommendations made by the Road Safety Council to the Ministry of Transport.

They included giving novice young riders a special license plate, banning them from the road after a certain time at night and strengthening Project Ride.

Sen. Caines and others had wondered if calls for road safety were falling on death ears.

"We (along with the Road Safety Council) went into the schools with public service announcements... and it seems as if the message is falling on deaf ears — 67 road traffic accidents on one weekend!" he said recently in the Senate.

"We have to stress and do something as a community because obviously, the numbers have gone up and the Government is doing everything it possibly can at this stage to assist in educating the public to get people to understand the (use of the) road is a privilege."