Cayman’s poor road safety record exposed in film
(CNS): A documentary film about the poor standard of road safety, a joint production of the RCIPS and local TV news station Cayman27, is now available online to watch. “Road Impact Cayman” exposes the poor level of driving and high number of accidents, as well as the emotional consequences of serious road accidents in the Cayman Islands. Already this year 13 people have been killed on the road, making 2015 of the deadliest in Cayman since records began.
The film features family members who have lost loved ones on the roads, as well as police officers, medical professionals and vehicle experts talking about the dangers of driving while drunk and speeding, which the police say are the two main causes of road crashes in Cayman.
“The idea for the project arose from the RCIPS’ participation in the Operations and Community Police Group for law enforcement in the overseas territories,” an RCIPS spokesperson stated. “It has been timed to coincide with our Holiday Safety Initiative, which began yesterday and focuses on improving road safety this holiday season as one of its primary objectives, especially in light of the number of tragic accidents that have taken place on Cayman’s roads this year.”
Category: Local News
13 deaths, i remember a particular year where there was 22 deaths, including the parsons family at Spotts. I also remember when the Cayman Islands DID have a Traffic Department, located at the rear of the then Central Police Station in George Town. Those were the years when you did see traffic officers on the roads doing their jobs and doing them properly.
It is funny, every time one of these articles on driving comes out, a flood of comments come in about enforcement, the state of driving the RCIP, the bus drivers, the truck drivers and then the police come out with a new statement or video or something that doesn’t address the issue. Are they even listening or maybe they don’t care?
I have a dash cam on my car and recorded lots of bad drivers, crazy, drunk people. Have sent couples to RCPI but seems not actions done. Corrupt government really we got! They don’t care about their own countrymen at all. If they do care they should have done great actions years ago! How many police we got? Is it not enough to have 1/4 or it do patrolling and catch those crazy drivers?! Or better just build a team of “traffic/road enforcers” to focused just on the traffic and road safety! You’re just telling us that you’re stupid enough to be elected and payed for to do resolutions to these public issues!
same here i have reported extreme dangerous driving with number plate details and nothing has been done….
I too have a dash cam and have been thinking of doing a FB page and upload the videos.
NO, NO! I won’t have it! Caymanian drivers must be completely competent, otherwise they would not have been issued a Drivers Licence by the Traffic Department!??!!!??
Anyone know what double yellow lines are for? Please call Papa John if you do and let him know as well.
Idiots park on The double yellow lines opposite Smith Cove then discharge families onto the road …accident waiting to happen, RCIP please enforce safe parking here before a child is knocked down.
In light of the new film on road safety, I’d like to comment on two very unsafe conditions relating to Cayman Brac roads; these are conditions that the National Roads Authority [NRA] and Government can do something about but thus far have chosen to ignore, instead neglecting their responsibility to do what is easily in their power to do in order to prevent accidents and make our roads safer. One should expect that these particular issues would have been addressed long ago. Perhaps when life is lost they may react. I should think that being proactive before a serious accident occurs would be the most prudent course.
Case One: On Cayman Brac there are numerous exits from businesses and residences where brush, bush, hedges, fences, walls, signs etc. obstruct visibility of oncoming traffic when trying to exit onto the public road. A staggering number of private yards extend well out into the gazetted right-of-way that is owned by Crown. Many properties have hedges, fences or walls that are no more than an arm’s length or so away from the edge of the pavement.Vehicles are essentially entering the paved roadway blind. On more than one occasion I have had to position the front of my vehicle well into the road in order to get past the obstructions to see oncoming traffic. I have experienced numerous close calls as countless times I have had to swerve to avoid cars jutting out and rolling into the road to see past the obstructions and have had other cars swerve to avoid hitting me.
I obtained from a surveyor friend aerial mapping and survey data regarding the various gazetted rights-of-way and in all cases of main roads the gazetted road right-of-way is 50 feet, while the paved width is about 22-25 feet. It is mind-boggling to see that in almost all cases the dangerous obstructions are actually situated partially or completely on Crown land! Why does government allow these hazards to exist? Almost every day I see road crews doing hand and mechanised cutting and clearing of the road shoulders. Why can the cleaning crews not be directed to cut and clear all the way to the gazetted road boundary, or at least enough to establish safe lines of sight?
Case Two: The Water Authority [WA] laid water mains along the main road from West End Cross Road to West End Primary School. This required trenching to lay the pipes. Here is where things get totally crazy: WA cut trenches well within not only the gazetted right-of-way, but well into the paved road lane! Again referring to graphics and data from the surveyor, one can clearly see that cutting into the road was largely unnecessary: there was ample Crown land at the side of the road to lay the pipes; however, because so many properties had the aforementioned walls, hedges, fences, etc on Crown land, Water Authority trenched into road lans to go around the obstructions! This is made all the more appalling by the fact that the road was newly paved and is now an unsightly and very dangerous mess! After many months the trench has not yet been paved over, only covered with loose sand and gravel. It is impossible to safely use that lane as one tyre is in the sand and one is on the pavement making for substantial tracking instability. One must cross well into the other lane to avoid the trench. Moreover, the trench is in most cases a rut well below the pavement grade. I narrowly missed being sideswiped by a water truck that swerved into my lane as it fishtailed out of the trench rut.
Under a competent scheme of road management, the installation of utilities is placed on the unpaved road shoulder or “soft estate” of the gazetted road land when such land exists. Under a competent scheme of road management, the trenching would have eliminated much of the obstruction by just clearing and trenching through Crown land on the side of the road. Under a competent scheme of road management the trench cut would have been repaired by now.
These situations are accidents waiting to happen! [And a lawsuit in the making according to decisions rendered in precedent accident cases in the UK. At least one person in the AG’s office agrees with me on this.]
The Ministry of District Administration,Tourism and Transport, and, the National Roads Authority, are responsible for this appalling situation. The National Roads Authority has an obligation to maintain the road surface to a reasonable standard of condition and safety, and has a duty to establish and maintain their road boundaries and soft estate to insure that dangerous obstructions to lines of sight are removed. As set forth in both cases above, thus far the NRA have proven to be incompetent to the point of culpable negligence in regard to ensuring road safety relative to their maintenance of the surface and in their care the soft estate falling within the the gazetted right-of-way. To read what constitutes minimum responsibilities of competent roads management, refer to the UK publication: “Well-maintained Highways – Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management, 2013”.
How long must Brackers suffer these dangers? If there is an accident due to these conditions, it is not going to be pretty. NRA? Moses? Julianna? AG? Are you listening?
Implement the “Points System” You still get the fine, and points taken off your License. Each year when you re-new your insurance it will be based on points. A clean record, a better premium. Once you have lost all your points, you loose your license for a period of time. Given the pathetic public transport system, one will really want to keep ones license.
A wonderful tribute to the FAILINGS of the RCIPS.
But Mr. bains removed the traffic division.
The film would have been much more exciting if it showed the weekly Sunday motorcycle races from Lime Tree Bay to the CI Yacht Club. Have to hand it to the RCIP these guys only race at the EXACT same time every Sunday!!
I hope this films contains some video of the RCIPS officers contributing to the bad driving and breaking the law.
A Government is elected to be imaginative, law abiding and ensure that its citizens live their lives by the rule of law, which also applies to traffic laws. Here in Cayman we have an ‘Island’ style approach to dealing with driving by a majority of people from ALL Nationalities.
This is due in part to most journeys being short, an unwillingness by the Police to ‘target’ certain categories of drivers and a defunct legal system where drivers when they get fines seem to have an option of not paying due to the slowness of the system.
There needs to be a non political Transport Commission with a mandate to set out a strategy for the future of driving in Cayman. Tough decisions have to be made, but made they must.
1/ A fundamental overhaul of speed limits in Cayman based on perception and type of road. It makes no sense to have the same speed limit on parts of SMB as on the dual carriage ways leading up to West Bay.
2/ 30 mph speed limiters fitted on all trucks above 7.5 tonnes.
3/ 25 mph speed limiters on all school buses.
4/ A decision to be made on whether we fully implement the English road system or the USA road system, you cannot have both. Left hand drive Police cars driving on the left side of the road – madness.
5/ Funding set aside for a properly regulated bus service as in most other countries. The ‘ad hoc’ nature of the present bus system is akin to a poor developing country.
6/ Import duty increased for large engine cars and reduced for small engine cars.
7/ A system of Island wide speed cameras at notorious speed hot spots.
8/ Permanent Police roadblocks at a small number of locations should not only help with traffic violations but also with other crime issues as well.
9/ With private investment an overhaul of some of the road layouts on the Island to ease traffic flow at rush hour.
Put me in charge, it will get done.
I hear you there the Cayman version of Donald Trump!
Yea Trump! Go man go!
AMEN!! We need our own version of “The Donald!”
Well said, what’s your name?
Definitely import duty on large vehicles and more tax to the government
Proper CCTV
And above all a proper bus service here it is worse than many 3rd world countries
Stopping is completely optional at both the stop sign leaving UCCI and the 3-way stop at Aspiration and Fairbanks. If the police setup a camera here all budget woes would be resolved within a week.
Add the West Bay 4- Way stop to the list.
That is pretty much true at every stop sign and traffic light on the island. If the basic rules of the road were constantly enforced by the police the roads here would be far safer for everyone.
How about the four way stop at the Dump Road in Industrial Park, which is supposed to be a traffic circle? What’s up with that? Chaos.
And the crazy drivers driving 50-60 on a 25 speed limit between hilton estate and siesta gardens aprtment leaving skid marks on the road, cctv attached by secret garden post seems not working or they’re not checking it on aroutine as i havent seen any authorities patrolling here!
This would never work, as my dashcam plainly shows RCIPS would have to ticket too many of their own!
Amazing that nobody stops for a stop sign but they lock up brakes & slide approaching an EMPTY roundabout! INSANE!!
We have more mini buses than Jamaica and they stop all over the place to pick up, drop off, or just chat with their friends…
Thanks Mckeeva, and thanks to the PPM for your continued importation of low class, poor ass people…
Imported truck drivers from Jamaica are a disgrace with speeding and general rude disregard for other road users…Added to boy racers behind black tinted windows of silly little Japanese cars.
C’mon cops you got eyes…do something about these people.
Caymanians don’t know how to use a 4 way stop and they use a roundabout like a 4 way stop! They wait to take turns and wave people through… It doesn’t work like that people!! It’s called “right of way”!!!!
If everyone knew how to use a roundabout and were as courteous as they are in a roundabout as they are at a 4 way stop, our traffic congestion were ease.
Interesting – are do you determine based on site who is Caymanian and who is not, considering that in the past most have been adamant that there is no distinction between born and bred and Caymanian status holders……….
02/12/2015 at 12:53 pm
just drop it, u r obsessed with it if you see this in the comment above.
I simply look at the drivers. As a Caymanian myself, I am pretty good at identifying my brethren.
Thanks for asking.
We need more enforcement of laws governing the use of the roads. Apply hefty fines for the truckers spilling aggregate and concrete on the roads. Enforce the speed restrictions in the school zones and the use of cell phones while driving. It seems to me that the practice of holding a smartphone at the top of the steering wheel to text/email while driving is becoming prevalent. Do your own survey and stand at the side of the road and observe the number of drivers illegally using a cell phone as they drive As a country we legislate laws but do not enforce them which is pointless and leads to a general lack of respect for all laws, new and old.
NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ROADS WHAT THE POLICE TURNING A BLIND EYE TO EVERY TRAFFIC VIOLATION…………. why was at traffic with a cop two cars behind and the car next to me had two kids bouncing about the car where is the carseat or seatbelt why didn’t the police ticket the vehicle ………………… what about the endless people overtaking who never get a ticket!!!!!!!!!!!
You really don’t know how to punctuate, do you?
Directly attributed to Baines and FCO’s clear and deliberate lack of Vision! No traffic Department needed which was here long before him and his UK experts arrive and Just like his famous diversity statement “every officer is a Traffic officer” How about every officer is a commissioner!
i would say 80% of people don’t use indicators on roundabouts here….
why are the rcips not doing anything about this?
just put a speed camera in the back of a van on the side of the road and then follow up on fines through the post….
government is losing out on millions…
there should be huge duties for importing large engine cars…
and duties cut for smaller engine cars…
Why is that? Both are capable of speeding. In fact, these “large engine cars” are usually American cars which have much more stringent safety requirements. Those “smaller engine cars” are usually small, (usually Japanese) cars which have more lax requirements. Should everyone drive a smart car because they have tiny engines? The smart can still achieve 90mph, which is more than enough to kill a person.
More public hogwash from RCIPS- what a bunch of glowns in my view.
ppm and kurt especially has blood on its hands by its incompetence/laziness in not reducing speed limit on wb road….
cig should be sued for neglegience/incompetence….
Sure. Blame someone else. That always works.
Right, because the government should be blamed for someone driving in an unsafe manner.As an example, if the speed limit on a wet section of road is 70 mph, don’t you think it would be a good idea to slow down?
set up a regulated private traffic police force….it will pay for itself, create government revenue by catching more people, improve the regular police force who can concentrate on other crimes, improve road safety…
win-win-win-win
problem solved.
Maybe focus on patrolling? I never see police cars sitting on the side of the road to catch crazy drivers. I have called the cops multiple times on dangerous drivers only to be met with incompetence. If you want to save lives, actually monitor the roads and the unsafe drivers out there EVERY NIGHT. More money in the governments pocket too.
Hopefully it includes the police officers who speed, turn on their lights and sirens just to skip traffic, don’t use turn signals, don’t wear seat belts, talk in their phones, illegally park and don’t know how to use roundabouts. Between them and the bus drivers, I don’t know who is worse.
The bus drivers. No question on that.
And don’t forget ignoring the 15 mph school zones, like the officer in the police cruiser who casually sped through the CHHS zone yesterday afternoon. I guess he couldn’t see the large flashing yellow light.
Driver’s education must be made a mandatory study for a minimum of two years in all Cayman Islands Schools; years 10/11 or 12. Graphic images must be used along with simulator experience. Visits to primary schools and educating children is not enough.
Just as a pilot has a licenses to fly a plane a person must have intense studies to drive a motor vehicle.
Not having this in place is just another failure of the CI Gov in not protecting its people.
Much of the bad driving does not involve people who attended Cayman’s schools.
There is NO driver education in Cayman Schools. And is NO drivers education from the CI Gov either. It has to start somewhere and what better way than with teenagers wanting to drive….like the rest of the developed world.
We should kick of the holiday safety initiative with finally lowering the speed limit on West Bay Road as we have been repeatedly promised by the PPM.. We are about to get into another high tourist season. DO IT NOW!! PPM, how will you explain another traffic death on this road this tourist season if you fail to lower the limit as repeatedly promised.
This could literally be a matter of life or death.
Lower speed doesn’t mean people will obey. We need cops on the beat.
Stop moaning about that. It’s not the PPM’s fault. I can’t believe there are still people that think posting a lower limit is going to stop speeding at night.
Rarely, if ever, am I allowed to go the posted 40 MPH speed limit on West Bay Road. No one goes that speed limit during daylight hours. The speeding occurs late at night when there are less people on the road.
Do you ever hear of a speeding related wreck during the day?????? NO. So! Even if a lower speed limit is posted, you will have the same people speeding down the road at night.
This is common sense thinking here…
Too bad the family of the latest victim did not sue the CIG for gross negligence.
Nicely put together.
Worth repeating with this article…
Helpful Top 10… Let’s be safe Cayman!
1. Slow down.
2. Use indicators.
3. Don’t tailgate.
4. Don’t weave in and out of traffic on dual carriageways.
5. Don’t change lanes in roundabouts.
6. Don’t use phones while driving.
7. Ensure your tires are in good condition.
8. Wear your seatbelt.
9. Be extra cautious in school zones.
10. Don’t drink and drive.
Anon 6:45am, I couldn’t agree more. It’s that simple.
All at the same time?
11. don’t drive around with full beams on all the time.
12. If you have stopped at the side of road, don’t just pull out with out looking if a car is coming and use your signals.
13. STOP signs mean come to a full stop,
14. if you are taking the far right exit on a roundabout, don’t use the left hand lane and signal left all the way around.
15. If you miss your exit on a roundabout, don’t stop and reverse, just simply go around the roundabout again. The same goes fir passing your exit on a dulalc arriage way, do not reverse up the wrong way back to the exit.
Stop at stop signs.
…and the dump road roundabout…when you have the right of way…for no reason whatsoever.
+ slow traffic keep left on the dual carriage way to allow faster traffic through
+ don’t stop in the fast lane to let your passenger out (looking at you construction workers for the Kimpton)
Some of the ‘bad driving’ is causation, take #4, if people were in the left hand lane unless overtaking, there wouldn’t be an option to weave, or undertake. Sitting in the right hand lane 3 miles before you are going to take a right on the 3rd roundabout isn’t how to drive. I truly believe there are a lot of people who don’t know what’s right and wrong so we end up with a mix of UK and US rules,
Tourists drink and drive without fear as they have not ever heard of a tourist being pulled over. And with the first time tourists, first time driving on the left, trying to figure out the Roundabouts. Danger daily.
The film would have been better if it showed poor driving. The issue in Cayman is not restricted to drunks and druggies alone – a vast majority of the population here have no idea how to drive properly and in accordance with the Cayman Road Code – particularly on roundabouts. Simple solution: stand with your cameras at the side of roads and roundabouts and film the foolisheness that we all endure each day trying to get to work. Film the drag strip that is Shamrock Road every morning. Then roll out a documentary evidencing bad driving and shaming the drivers of the vehicles filmed.
If the police really wanted to improve road standards they would be stood in these places pulling up drivers and explaining correct usage of roundabouts and roads whenever they see an infraction.
Did the RCIPS include their own road collisions?
The driving around roundabouts is appalling. It is like russian roulette especially near Hurleys. The reason why? Pure unadulterated selfishness.
completely agree!!!!!