Cops record 146 smashes in three weeks
(CNS): Despite the best efforts of the police to raise awareness about road safety, from high visibility patrols and road blocks to a documentary on the impact of careless driving on people’s lives, there were 146 crashes on Cayman roads between 30 November and 21 December. Over the same period, officers conducting the Christmas crime prevention and road safety campaign, Operation Magpie, have issued 150 tickets, including 30 for speeding and 24 for drinking and driving.
Given the tragically high number of road deaths this year, the police have focused more than ever on both aspects of road safety this holiday season – education and enforcement — but crashes remain stubbornly high
“We had 69 accidents reported last week alone,” said Inspector Adrian Barnett, Head of the Traffic Management Unit. “These are mostly minor collisions in traffic due to carelessness or inattention by motorists. There are just more cars on the road right now, that’s true, but at the same time, 37 tickets for the misuse of a phone while driving and another 24 tickets for failing to wear seat belts demonstrate that people need to take more responsibility for their personal safety.
“Some of the fatalities we’ve had this year happened in cases where persons not wearing their seat belts were thrown from vehicles. We can’t say it enough: wear your seat belt,” he urged.
Police Commissioner David Baines also warned people to take more care on the roads.
“There have been more than enough deadly accidents this year,” he said. “To those who complain that increased policing on the road is a nuisance at holiday time, imagine being the officer who has to be the one to inform a family of a tragic loss at Christmas, or even worse, being the family member at the receiving end of that tragic news. We are out there to prevent this, and we need people to do their part so we can finish this year with no more road tragedies.”
Full Operation Magpie Statistics 30 November – 21 December (morning):
Collisions 146
Tickets 150
Speeding 30
DUI 24
No Seat Belt 24
Misuse of phone 37
Expired Coupon 29
Dangerous Driving 3
No Insurance 6
Driving without being qualified 1
The famous philosophical question, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”, could in Cayman be replaced by “If a police department conducts operations but no one ever sees them achieve anything, are they a deterrent?”
I did not see a space for me to review my comment as I used to see before & I always want anony
CNS: Just don’t write your name anywhere if you want to be anonymous.
The Problem is most drivers on Cayman didnt have a drivers licence before they arrived and owning a car is a dream come true ! Thats the problem
Jamaican driving standards have taken hold here.
Now its a fusion of Jamaican recklessness and Caymanian rudeness driving. More like Jamaician driving style. And no worries about getting stopped for a ticket or reported to the non functional traffic department.
In the developed world there is police on the roads forcing bad drivers to follow the rules. Here we have “honorable for lifers” asking everyone else to drive with respect for each other with the expected results.
Also building roads that are safe would be a plus. There are more hidden driveways, walls in corners, speed-bumps for no reason, and massive amounts of pot holes that cause people to either swerve to miss them or loss control hitting them. The drivers are bad enough without the ill thought out road systems to go along with them. Oh and teaching people to look behind them all the time. Unless you are backing up…going to make a turn or passing….look in the direction you are driving please……One last thing…practice hitting the brakes rather than the horn.
Have you ever been to other places before? Visiting Florida does not count. Roads are excellent and have little to no blind spots in Cayman. I say this in comparison to smaller towns in the UK where the road is intended for two vehicles, the road is narrow that it is only wide enough for one and a half vehicles and the road is windy with high walls on both sides and no sidewalk.
The smashes in Cayman are due to the driver behind the wheel. It is about driving skill or lack thereof. Driver aggression, arrogance and ignorance. Drink driving.
Defensive driving should be mandatory for all individuals with a licence.
– Illegal parking??
– Misadjusted headlights? (or, I forgot, it is SUPPOSED to be checked during annual Vehicle check-up)
– Driving at night without headlights? Or, more Cayman-style, with one headlight?
– Using high beam in heavy traffic?
– Not using indicators (ever)?
Ok, maybe it is all hidden in “Tickets – 150”.
So let’s see if we have this right. For “Operation Magpie” a supposed clamp down on road violations, the RCIP hand out 150 tickets over a 3 week period. 50 per week.7 per day! Annualized that would be 2,600 per year if they kept it up year around. Bermuda a comparable country with a full time traffic department does around 45,000 moving violations per year. and you wonder why there are 146 road accidents in that same 3 week period?
Get a friggin traffic department back in place.
Maybe you should consider driving on the right side of the road, and not the wrong side. Do like the BIG continents already do
What a senseless comment. Please tell me how you have determined that driving on the left is wrong? A short history lesson for you….
When horses were the main mode of transport and with most soldiers were right handed it was natural to be on the left so you could engage the enemy with your lance or sword. When motorized carriages were introduced it was only natural to continue on the left. Even today the power of engines are measured in horse power. Today there is no right or wrong side only choices made by countries and many drive on the left, even the largest car producing nation still drives on the left.
Hell no…… Keep left and you will always be right. Thanks
maybe…. u should go back to your big continent then.
Thank you for defending stupidity. How else can idiots like you compete.
No we don’t want everything from the U.S. So far Cayman has imported only pathetic American culture -thug life and reality TV garbage.
Maintaining our alliance with over the pond is much better, more elegant Behavior, real culture and driving on the correct side of the road.
Points system and re take of driving test when points have reached a certain level. Increased insurance if points vary.
All students must attend an accredited driving school prior to receiving learners licence.
Automatic billing and notification of expired car and driver’s licence and insurance mailed to owner. A current phone number and email address must be on file. If the owner does not pay within one month, an automatic warrant is sent.
Mandatory by law to notify of any address changes within 30 days.
Suggestions to receive payment from delinquents. Centralized data or sharing of data. Non compliance is then communicated to immigration and attach outstanding fees to work permits. Reduced monthly stipend from child and family services. Attachment of earnings to employers.
Introduce driver safety at the primary school level. Include bicycle safety and teach rode codes.
These are all suggestions. I would love if all could be implemented. If not at least consider them and implement one.
The correct side of the road to drive on is the left, besides which the side will not make any difference to the standard of driving.
…………and tell the numnuts to stick to the LEFT LANE when driving along a dual carriage way. The right lane is for overtaking slowpokes on the left, AND for making a right turn at the next roundabout. AAAARRGH!
Can somebody please teach the RCIP to drive according to Cayman Islands and British Highway Code regulations. The standard of driving demonstrated by police officers of ALL nationalities on Grand Cayman is appalling and the CoP needs to get a grip of his own driver training and standards to set a better example to those who are some of the worst drivers anywhere in the world.
The drivers in Cayman are the most inconsiderate, selfish, arrogant and down right bloody lazy bunch of w*****s I have ever experienced. Until you make these people take a proper test ie the UK driving test along with the implementation of the penalty points system things will never change and accidents will continue to happen.
What is it these days with people crossing over the median strip (that’s the line that separates opposing lanes of traffic for all you numpties out there)? Are you that lazy that you can’t turn your steering wheel a little more and stay on your own side on the flaming road. By the way a solid white line means NO CROSSING it.
And don’t get me started on the dual carriageway down Lawrence Boulevard. People, when turning onto Lawrence Boulevard from West Bay Road (coming say from Wendy’s direction) you do NOT stop, do NOT give way, it is a DUAL CARRIAGEWAY for heavensake. In case you are blind there are two lanes running towards the roundabout until about 3/4 of the way down where they merge together. You have plenty of road to do a u-turn to get to the Marquee Plaza or the gas station. There are other drivers on the road other than you, you selfish gits.
And when you pull right out in front of me causing me to slam on my brakes especially when I am on a roundabout and have the right of way and I lean on my horn, don’t you dare give ME the finger or mouth off at me. You are in the wrong.
I could go on and on and on but it has all been said before by other people who are equally as fed up as I am but let me finish by saying the roads signs are in MPH not KPH. Just because your cheap Japanese car is in KPH that’s not the speed you do. Oh and please use West Bay Road and Eastern Avenue if you insist or are unable to go faster than 25 mph and not the bypass, it is very irritating.
P.S Sorry for any spelling mistakes, the capital letters and any other grammatical errors I may have made. KMA.
P.P.S I am Caymanian, this is my home, I have a good job and have a UK driving license. KMA.
P.P.P.S Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Wow, I thought nobody else knew about dual lanes in Lawrence Boulevard. I’ve never ever seen any driver obeying that solid white line and not crossing it immediately.
Anonymous at 2.35. I feel your pain, having nearly had two accidents this week because of drivers who didn’t understand the basic rules of the road. However, I do have a simple solution which I stumbled upon a few years ago, which is as follows: spend a few days driving in Jamaica, and when you return to Cayman, or should say, if you return here, you’ll wonder what there was to complain about. It’s how Vietnam vets must feel if they ever get mugged, hardly worth mentioning.
Maybe focus on patrolling for those dangerous drivers and then you will bring down the collision numbers?
I was out on the roads running a few errands last night for just under an hour. One car was tail gaiting me all the way from the Wharf to the Strand, even though there was traffic all the way up and he/she had nowhere to go. Three other vehicles pulled right out or turned right in front of me. I passed two cars going the other way with no headlights on… at 7 pm! One car ploughed right through the crosswalk by the Marriott even though it was lit up and people were crossing at the time. At the Strand I saw a few cars illegally parked… in front of Blackbeards. So that is just my 45 minute sample. Very sad. We can do better!
Guys, how many collisions yearly for last 20 years? Assume a yearly range of 1500-1800. the stat above is not unusual. That figure alone ought to be very illustrative of how desperately we require a functional daily traffic department and regular beat patrols to protect the safety and property of the public. Such statistics inform the most obvious remedial action to everyone except, it seems, Adrian Barnett and David Baines.
i’ve figured it out..
People are getting in accidents trying to avoid the cops..
I hit a light pole the other day because a low flying helicopter distracted me.
Raising awareness does NOT help. Enforcing the law 24/7 will help! Why continue to do the same thing and expect a different outcome???? People only feel where it hurts! Their wallet or being unable to drive themselves from A to B.