Tourist hit by pick-up truck on WB Road
(CNS): The police opened yet another investigation into a serious road collision on Tuesday evening (29 December). At around 7pm a pick-up truck hit a man who was crossing the road by Pepper’s Bar and Restaurant on the West Bay Road in the heart of Cayman’s tourist district. The RCIPS has now confirmed that the 68-year-old man was a visitor to the islands from the UK. He is currently at the George Town hospital in a serious but not critical condition.
The West Bay Road was closed for some time in the wake of the collision but there are no other details at this time about the crash or the driver. Police said that no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information or who may have witnessed this incident is asked to contact the GTPS at 9494222.
Category: Police
@ THE ISLANDER , sounds like you could be a witness to the case , but don’t say because the victim was not in the cross walk , and poor lighting, the driver is not at fault. I think that this would be a poor excuse of defense for the Judge to hear .
For Christ sake Kurt Tibbetts how long does it take to fix this situation? you’ve had ample time to correct this.
Sad news again. Every single time I drive on that stretch of road in the night I continue to wonder if the “ppl of authority”l don’t see how dark that area is. Even driving the speed limit or slower ppl will take the chance to cross the road. Don’t wait until some “big shot important” person gets hurt or killed before more lighting is placed there. Also, even though the pedestrian signs light up I think a continuous light should be placed somewhere over the post on both sides of the crossing. West Bay road is too dark!
Changing the speed limit won’t do anything people will still speed. Was the man even on th cross walk.
Sadly he was 30 yards away from the cross walk. The lighting is very poor in that area and there is nothing to assume that the driver of the white pickup did anything wrong.
Where the Hell are the new speed limits that we have been told over and over will be posted. I know it will mean nothing to some people but it will help./ Once again I say to Government: ” the next death is on your shoulders if you do not move forward with the new speed limits you said were going to take effect!! I am tired of this Sh!T
Gross negligence lawsuit against CIGs overdue. This is reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others, which is so great it appears to be a conscious violation of other people’s rights to safety.
Better lighting is needed on WB Road !!
It’s not even about how well lit any area is or if there is a pedestrian crossing or not. Every vehicle has HEAD LIGHTS, BRIGHT AND DIP! I drive these roads day and night, you know what I do when I come upon a not so well lit area? I SLOW downnnnnnn slower than the speed limit, and if there are no cars coming, I switch on my brighter lights for assistance! These idiots these days are cutting their drivers’ licence from cereal boxes.
Sad to say, but idk HOW so much of these road clowns are even getting a valid drivers licence tho. And these EAGER kids that can’t even prioritize getting a job or LEARN TO DRIVE FIRST, before they pursue a drivers’ licence or a car!? Makes you wonder just what kind of structure they live by. None obviously
not again!!!
This tragic.
But I have personally had a few near misses driving on that road, at night.
Once, a group of young (drunk) guys carrying their drinks just walked out into the road at TI without even looking first.
I was driving within the speed limit and had to slam on brakes to avoid hitting them. The lighting in the area is so poor, you cannot see much at all.
More needs to be done by way of educating tourists on arrival. By way of road safety.
I have seen countless tourists in rental cars driving on the wrong side of the road. Let’s have arrows painted on the roads at frequent intervals, as well as signage reminding tourists to pay attention to what they are doing.
You mean a “near hit” right? Near miss means you were hit.
No it doesn’t. A near miss is an accident or mishap narrowly avoided.
The lighting is completely useless on WB Road and always has been. It’s as simple as that. Fix the lighting and the number of pedestrian accidents will drop.
Lowering the speed limit won’t make any difference. The people who run others over will still go too fast. The present speed limit is suitable to that road and a lower one will only cause tailbacks behind the people who traipse along at an unnaturally slow rate.
Again, improve the LIGHTING.
To Chuck 30/12 2:07: you raised an interesting point. I have used that expression repeatedly and not thought about it. It seemed illogical on the surface, which is what you picked up on. But the poster who responded is right — a near miss is an incident in which harm and injury were avoided — narrowly missed as the poster said. If you google it as I did you will find some definitions.
But we both digress, Chuck. When readers do this rather than deal with substance I tend to feel as my old professor used to say — “Go to the head of the class — but don’t take your books.”
…or, most likely, looking the wrong way for oncoming traffic. Although this man was from the UK, American tourists look the wrong way before crossing.
Wow, i just pointed out to my wife on Monday night that the street light by this resterant has been out for weeks, this area has to be one of the busiest areas for pedestrian traffic.
sad.
I suspect that this chap is regretting not walking 50 yards north to the traffic lights or 100 yards south to the new crossing
Why has the speed limit not been changed!!! It’s been talked about for a long time and our do nothing politicians have done exactly what??
Earlier this year, probably September I heard a report on either the radio or TV that in October the speed limit on West Bay Road was to be reduced. It is now the end of December and the speed limit is still 40 mph why am I not surprised?
A few years ago a group of experts from abroad studied the speed limits across Grand Cayman. What happened as a result? Nothing. Across the Island there are many stupid speed limits, like the 40 mph on West Bay Road . Some too high, like the 50 mph towards East End and the 40 mph on ETH through Camana Bay, and some too low like the 40 mph on ETH extension towards West Bay where virtually everyone ignores it and drives much faster.
More like 30 yards south. Its is annoying as a driver to have to brake hard for overweight tourists to try and make it across three lanes of busy road when they are so close to crossings – this is particularly evident outside the Westin Hotel.
I was walking along that stretch of road last night before the accident and commented on how dark it is there, even the street light above the pedestrian crossing a few hundred yards up the road doesn’t work. If the useless powers that be won’t improve the road you’d think that the restaurant/bar/hotel & condo owners in the area would work together to make the road safer. I walk that stretch of road every day and honestly if there was even just one police patrol nearby they’d catch scores of drivers overtaking in the turning lane, speeding through amber/red lights at those traffic lights and yapping on their mobile phones instead of concentrating on the road – I’m not a rocket scientist, it really doesn’t take too much effort to sort the problem out. – a knee jerk, badly positioned, poorly lit pedestrian crossing didn’t solve the problem after a fatality and life changing injury in the area, I’m waiting with baited breath to see what solution they come up with this time!
Maybe the powers that be will get off their behinds and change some laws now. Not!!!
how about getting them to have CUC repair the lights.