Police are warning motorists to slow down, get off their phones and pay attention after four serious crashes during the weekend amid widespread concerns about falling driving standards.

Superintendent Arthur Glasford, the officer in charge of the Roads Policing Unit, said the Bermuda Police Service were “once again urging all road users to exercise greater care and caution when travelling on our island’s roads”.

He added: “This comes following a concerning number of serious road traffic collisions over the past weekend.”

His remarks came after a taxi driver and road safety activist warned of a “long, hot summer” ahead, with cabbies reporting a noticeable deterioration in driver conduct.

Mr Glasford said that speeding, impaired driving and distracted driving, particularly the use of mobile phones, continued to stand as “key contributing factors to collisions that result in injury or worse”.

He added: “These behaviours put not only the driver at risk but also passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists.

“With schools on summer break and an increase in tourist arrivals, our roads are seeing much more activity.

“Visitors unfamiliar with our traffic regulations along with children travelling to summer camps, heading to the beach or cycling through our neighbourhoods are especially vulnerable.

“Motorists are urged to bear this in mind and to remain alert and patient.”

Mr Glasford said police were also concerned about speeding within the City of Hamilton, which “creates a risk in this high pedestrian area for residents and visitors alike”.

Campaigner Shari-Lynn Pringle, who was involved in the road safety documentary A Piece of the Rock, told The Royal Gazette that aggressive drivers took dangerous risks on the assumption that other vehicles would get out of the way.

Ms Pringle said: “Many of us who are travelling on Bermuda roads on a regular basis have noticed a significant decrease in the care, courtesy and caution that is used by other road users.

“Motorists seem to have an attitude of entitlement and this is further increased when they make a manoeuvre that should take them out of commission — but they get away with it most likely because someone has slowed down, stopped or moved over.”

She said that a common sentiment heard after a road crash was “at least it’s not a fatality”.

However, Ms Pringle added: “Many road traffic crashes result in severe head injuries, limb damage and amputations and hours of therapy. Most of which could be avoided by a road user making better choices — one being to abide by the speed limit and general rules of the road.

“It’s going to be a long, hot summer and some of those who start the summer with us will not be there at the end.

“Please do everything in your power to make sure you’re not that person.”

Mr Glasford urged the community to refrain from driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, and to stay off “mobile phones or other distractions” while driving.

He called on drivers to stick to the speed limit, “adjust your speed to suit road conditions” and to keep alert, particularly in residential areas and near parks, beaches and schools.

Mr Glasford added: “The BPS will continue their enforcement efforts to promote road safety but we urge the public to take personal responsibility for their actions behind the wheel.

“One moment of inattention or poor judgment can have lifelong consequences.

“Let’s work together to make Bermuda’s roads safer for all.”

The first serious crash of the weekend happened at about 1.15pm on Friday when a man was taken to hospital after a three-vehicle collision on Montpelier Road in Devonshire.

Police said it appeared that a male motorcyclist was travelling north along Montpelier Road near the junction with Hesitation Lane when a car ahead stopped to make a turn into the Arboretum.

The motorcycle collided with the rear of the car, throwing the rider into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

At 2.20am on Saturday, police and emergency staff attended the scene of a collision involving a motorcycle and an SUV on Kindley Field Road in St George’s.

Two men were involved after their motorcycle, travelling west, struck the back of the SUV.

One, who sustained a serious head injury, was treated at the scene by EMTs, before he was taken by ambulance for treatment. He was said to be recovering on a general ward.

The second male was reportedly taken away in a private vehicle. Police said it was unclear whether he had been injured but a spokesman said it was believed that a second motorcycle may have been involved, based on forensic evidence at the scene.

The driver and occupant of the SUV both sustained minor injuries.

At 2.15am on Sunday, two women were injured in a head-on collision between two cars near the junction of South Road and Church Road in Southampton.

One of the women, who sustained a chest injury, had to be freed from her vehicle by firefighters. The other suffered a concussion, as well as bruises.

The spokesman said both vehicles were “written off”, but the women were treated and discharged from hospital.

On Sunday evening, police reported a “serious” single motorcycle crash in Devonshire near the junction of Dock Hill and North Shore Road.

The crash, at about 7.45pm, came as the male rider attempted to negotiate a corner but lost control, struck a wall and was ejected from the bike, sustaining “multiple abrasions to his face and body”.

EMTs from the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service treated him at the scene.

He was taken by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and discharged himself after treatment.

Anyone with information on the crash was asked to contact Pc Victor Fishington on 717-0836, or via e-mail at vfishington@bps.bm.

When police launched Operation Vega in July 2021, aimed at deterring the island’s most prevalent road offences, stricter fines for bad driving were also discussed.

More than three years on, police conceded that bad habits were persisting on the roads and a poor driving culture was prevalent.

Last year, police called for heightened individual responsibility to make the island’s roads safer.

Maxanne Anderson, the senior magistrate, opened the legislative year in 2025 with a call for tougher consequences for drink-driving and said that the $500 limit on speeding fines was “simply inadequate”.

It came after Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, when he was Acting Minister of National Security, said that legal amendments may be required to “give our law enforcement a stronger and more effective deterrent to poor driving habits”.

Puisne Judge Alan Richardson added his voice to the issue this month when he sentenced Calin Maybury to four years’ imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving.

Maybury was also disqualified from driving for five years — the maximum allowed.

Mr Justice Richardson took the occasion to “respectfully encourage legislators to look again at the sentencing regime for these and other traffic offences”.

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