Bermuda ends 2009 with a road death rate in the highest bracket on the international scale — and safety campaigner Christopher Johnson is wondering why there's no public outcry.

In contrast to the huge community shock over recent gang-related deaths, Dr. Johnson says people are complacent about the epidemic which has claimed 13 road victims this year, and more than 100 in the first decade of the 21st Century.

Yesterday, the Road Safety Council chairman called yet again for motorists to take better care and vowed to attack the problem with a grassroots programme in 2010.

But he conceded the group's hopes for speed cameras and roadside breathalysers were a long shot during the economic crisis.

"We have witnessed a public outcry in the wake of the tsunami of gun deaths but despite 13 preventable deaths on the roads of Bermuda, no public vigils or marches have been undertaken," Dr. Johnson told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"The loss of these individuals to roads deaths in Bermuda is so tragic, senseless and disheartening.

"Clearly a multi-factorial approach is needed. We have promoted public awareness campaigns that are directed towards our younger motorists because the Road Safety Council believes that we are more likely to alter their motoring behaviour.

"Continued enforcement of existing laws by the Police also has a role. We strongly believe that speed cameras and field breathalysers can assist the Police in enforcement, but this will require significant funding in this economically challenging period.

"Finally we must somehow tap into the community at large, at a grassroots level, to get involved in the public health tragedy.

"For 2010, our hope is a safer Bermuda on the roads and elsewhere. It is our hope our message of safe driving will ring out across the Island during the rest of the holiday season and next year."

Bermuda's road fatality rate for 2009 is 20 per 100,000 people.

That statistic dwarfs latest figures for almost every Caribbean island and puts Bermuda into the Pan American Health Organization's 'high risk' section.

This year's tally was swollen by a spate of fatalities in the summer, with three killed in the space of five days at the beginning of June. By comparison, Turks and Caicos suffered four road deaths in 2009.

Bermuda's death rate didn't reach the same height as 2008, when 17 fatalities made it the worst of the decade. In total since January 1, 2000, 106 people have been killed on Bermuda's roads.

Dr. Johnson said: "Bermuda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. At the same time due to the narrowness and other challenging conditions of our roads, and restrictions on cars requiring so many motorists to ride cycles, Bermuda is a set-up for collisions and deaths.

"Factor in the socially accepted practice of drinking alcohol and operating a vehicle, excessive speeds, and unsafe behaviours, for example the use of the third lane down the middle, and crashes and mortalities on our roads are further augmented."

Last week, new Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva said plans for better technology to aid road policing would be on hold due to cash shortages.

Mr. DeSilva said Police would be focusing on safety awareness campaigns to change people's attitudes, in an attempt to emulate the success of hard-hitting adverts in jurisdictions such as the UK.

Statistics for the region

The Pan American Health Organization deems a country's road safety level to be 'high-risk' if its annual death rate is greater than 20 per 100,000 people.

Based on an estimated population of 65,000, Bermuda's rate for 2009 is 20.0. According to the latest available figures, only four jurisdictions in North America, South America or the Caribbean have a higher rating. They are: Venezuela: 21.8; British Virgin Islands: 21.7; Peru: 21.5; and Mexico: 20.7.

Most recent available annual road death rates, per 100,000 people:

Anguilla: 8.3 (in 2002)

Antigua & Barbuda: 18.5 (2001)

Aruba: 18.3 (2001)

Bahamas: 14.5 (2009)

Bermuda: 20.0 (2009)

British Virgin Islands: 21.7 (2009)

Cayman Islands: 14.6 (2002)

Cuba: 8.6 (2009)

Dominica: 8.5 (2001)

Dominican Republic: 17.3 (2009)

Haiti: 1.5 (2000)

Jamaica: 12.3 (2009)

Puerto Rico: 12.8 (2009)

St. Kitts & Nevis: 7.9 (2001)

St. Lucia: 17.6 (2009)

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: 6.6 (2009)

Trinidad & Tobago: 15.5 (2009)

Turks & Caicos Islands: 10.9 (2009)