A nine-year-old American girl injured in a road accident which claimed the life of her mother on Monday was last night still recovering in hospital.

A King Edward VII Memorial Hospital spokeswoman said there had been "a lot of improvement" in the youngster's condition and that she had been moved to a general ward.

The child was a pillion passenger on her mother Martha Hoopes' rental scooter when it was involved in a collision with a van travelling in the opposite direction on Middle Road in Southampton on Monday morning.

Mrs. Hoopes, 39, from Kenilworth, Illinois, was rushed to KEMH via ambulance and later pronounced dead, becoming the Island's third road fatality of 2008.

Her daughter was rescued by firefighters after being trapped under the florist's van near Lighthouse Hill for 30 minutes, witnesses told The Royal Gazette.

Last night Premier Ewart Brown, Transport and Tourism Minister, said he had asked the Road Safety Council to write to every cycle rental outlet on the Island "reminding them of the important role they play in saving lives when they teach visitors how to operate livery cycles".

He added: "It's an extremely critical task that must never be taken lightly." Dr. Brown said the council would be instructed to take a "hard look" at livery cycle procedures to determine how to reduce visitor accidents in future.

"Mopeds and Bermuda are synonymous, but we have an obligation to take steps to save lives," he said.

Dr. Brown extended his sympathies to Mrs. Hoopes' family on behalf of the country, adding that he hoped her young daughter "can be back in the arms of her father very soon".

Dr. Brown's comments came after emails calling for tourists to be banned from riding cycles began circulating yesterday.

One anonymous emailer wrote that Bermuda's roads were dangerous because of unfriendly drivers, an increasing number of cars, larger trucks and faster bikes.

Johann Moik, operations manager at Oleander Cycles, which rented the moped to Mrs. Hoopes, expressed the company's sadness over the accident but cautioned against an overreaction.

"Nobody is more concerned than ourselves," he said. "People are calling for more training for tourists. We give them training, we have a special course where they can drive around."

Asked if the current training standards in place for visitors were effective, he said: "It's a very difficult question. At our Paget location, we rent the parking lot in the church and we see people riding there and we let them ride for as long as they want. They ride until they feel comfortable."

He said Oleander had between 25 to 35,000 rentals a year, adding that a ban on rental bikes for tourists would adversely affect many livery operators.

Mr. Moik said the company had received some anonymous, abusive messages from what he described as "teenagers" following the accident.

Cabinet Minister Dale Butler said on Monday that a member of staff from the Department of Tourism had been assigned to offer assistance to Mrs. Hoopes' family.

"I await word from the Bermuda Police Service on the official cause of the accident, but in the meantime I urge all members of the motoring public — residents and visitors alike — to use our roads cautiously," he said.

The Chicago Tribune yesterday quoted a policewoman, who did not give her name, as saying that the cause of the crash was yet to be determined. "It's still early in the investigation, so we don't really know the circumstances," she said.

The Tribune quoted the officer as saying she did not know whether Mrs. Hoopes, who was here with her daughter and husband, was visiting for business or pleasure.

Mrs. Hoopes' husband was not involved in the crash and is understood to have spent yesterday at KEMH.

• Police are appealing for witnesses to contact Inspector Mark Clarke on 299-1999 or P.c. Shanita Furbert on 299-4399.

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