If everyone drove within the speed limit Bermuda's productivity would drop, Junior Transport Minister Marc Bean claimed yesterday. Sen. Bean said 35 kilometres per hour should be the minimum speed — not the maximum — and that Police could interpret the true limit to be 50 kilometres per hour.

Prompting Progressive Labour Party Senate leader David Burch to remark "he's in fantasy land", the Junior Minister pointed out Bermuda is no longer in the 1600s, 1700s or early 1900s when slower modes of transport such as horses and carts were the norm.

"We complain about the speed limit, but if we all drove at 35 kilometres per hour the productivity would drop," said Sen. Bean. He was speaking during a debate on new laws to fine people $500 for driving or riding while using a cell phone, iPods and other hand-held devices, which won approval in the Upper House yesterday.

Amendments to the Traffic Offences Procedures Act also stop people under the age of 18 from carrying pillion passengers or riding between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., ban TV monitors in cars and increase the fines for tinted windows.

Debate centred around a host of bad driving habits on Bermuda's roads, including speeding, drunk-driving, failing to indicate properly and riding with a cell phone lodged inside the helmet.

Sen. Bean wrapped up the discussion by referring to the Island's official 35 kilometres per hour speed limit, and its "unofficial" 50 kilometres limit.

"Quite frankly, in 2010, 35 kilometres should be the minimum, and the maximum could be interpreted by Police to be 50 kilometres," he said.

As Sen. Bean talked about modes of transport of years gone by and the need to get around more quickly today, Senate President Carol Ann Bassett repeatedly urged him to get back to the debate in hand.

He eventually subsided, saying: "I apologise if I drifted somewhere as a result of everyone else's drifting talk too."

Earlier in the debate, Senators had shared their own experiences of the Island's roads, with Sen. Burch saying he finds driving and riding "the most boring thing you can do ... a complete waste of time".

"When I drive or ride I engage in the traditional Bermudian pastime — I mice. My mind goes somewhere else," he said.

"For somebody like me, it's even more poignant when you see someone riding with no hands on the handle bar."

The Public Safety Minister said that on Friday he was grumbling about being stuck in traffic when he saw the reason for the hold-up was a Police officer slowing people down to enforce the laws, as requested by himself.

"I had to pull in my horns," he said.

Sen. Burch said there would be push-back to the new cell phone legislation, but people had to accept it's a necessary move.

United Bermuda Party Senate leader Michael Dunkley said most accidents are a result of speeding or drunk-driving, but added: "What about people who show inattention?"

These included those driving while adjusting the radio to switch off Senator Thaao Dill, and "idiotic" riders who don't use their hands, he said.

Sen. Dunkley said the new legislation would not work without a Police presence and enforcement.

Independent Senator Joan Dillas-Wright said not only were many people losing their lives in car accidents, others end up in wheelchairs for life or in a vegetative state. "The impact of accidents on our young people is very big," she said.

Veteran Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes said he rides slower than most, adding: "Very often, people like me, at 30 kilometres, are at risk because people go bombing past you like a rocket."

However, he suggested it would not be so easy to change young people's mindsets.

"Even in my day, I did silly things. It's very difficult to correct that. Policing is a big hope, but you get caught today, tomorrow you go and do the same thing," said Sen. Hughes.

UBP Senator Suzann Roberts-Holshouser said teenagers under 18 should be given special licence plates so they can be identified when they're breaking the new codes.

Sen. Dill said people should avoid using the word "accident" to describe a crash, as it makes it seem like random bad luck and absolves the driver of responsibility.