Recent crashes reflect latest statistics
(CNS): Two major crashes in the last two days, one where a fire rescue truck ploughed into a light pole and hit a cyclist and the other where a car came off the road and ended up on the ironshore in East End, are examples of the realities underpinning the recently released annual traffic statistics from the RCIPS. In 2016 six people were killed on the road, and although that was down 50% compared with the dozen lives lost in 2015, the number of non-fatal crashes increased. There were 1,185 reported collisions on local roads last year, a 7% increase on 2015 and an undeniably high figure for a small jurisdiction.
This means that police and other emergency services are dealing with an average of more than three smashes every day of the year. October was the worst month last year, with 111 road accidents. But the crashes are not surprising given that traffic infractions also increased during 2016, with police handing out a whopping 6,463 tickets of one kind or another to rogue drivers, a 26% increase on bad driving compared to last year.
With a 42% increase in the number of drivers ticketed for speeding, that is clearly one of the main causes of collisions. Police nabbed 1,689 people for going over the speed limit and 178 drivers were caught drunk behind the wheel, an increase of 12% on the year before and another cause of death on the roads.
Another major issue is seat-belts. The failure to wear one means that when drivers or passengers are involved in a crash, if the victim is lucky enough to survive the injuries will be far more severe. Even though seat-belts save lives, there was a massive increase in the amount of people caught by police not wearing one.
Last year 683 people were ticketed and fined $100, more than double the number in 2015. Another killer — using a mobile phone behind the wheel — was also up, with 745 drivers fined, a 10% increase on the year before. Police also caught a 1,253 unlicensed or disqualified drivers on the road, a 49% increase on the number of drivers using their vehicles without a licence in 2015.
The statistics could reflect better enforcement, however, rather than just bad driving, as the RCIPS reformed the traffic unit after 12 people were killed in 2015, causing understandable public alarm.
Police said a joint effort between them and the community, increased traffic enforcement, and road safety campaigns by community organisations and the media helped to raise awareness and prevent drunk driving, especially during the holiday period.
“The RCIPS plans to continue to expand the Traffic Management Unit this year with more frontline officers, but sustainable safety on the roads requires efforts in education and engineering, as well as enforcement, and we will be working closely with the NRA and DVDL on initiatives that improve road safety overall in addition to our enforcement of regulations and laws,” the police said as they released the statistics last month.
I saw yesterday a car with two completely mis-matched plates and numbers. One yellow one in the back, a red one in the front….
Spoke to a traffic police officer a while back regarding all these vehicles missing a license plates and how come they don’t pull them over. Pointed them out to him as some vehicles with missing plates were passing us (and no they didn’t have the temporary ones on their windshield/rearview window either). His response “yeah that’s true – he will have to speak to his boss about it”….
I have high doubts that some actually know the full extend of the traffic law and therefore are oblivious to them being ignored by so many drivers….
Saw a vehicle today with large plastic yellow “Cayman Islands” plates. Looked like a local take on UK style plates. Apparently under the current regulatory free-for-all it is permissible to print your own plates in whatever style pleases you.
Saw that Land Rover too. RCIPS, please bust these people – and tear off their illegal tint while you’re at it!
The traffic statistics clearly define and reflects the amount third world drivers we have on this islands.It also demonstrates that they have no place behind any type steering wheel or handles or on our roads. Those numbers are outrageous for such a small island.
Nah blackhat, it’s pretty much every nationality here, Europeans and other foreigners who have not seen enforcement and Caymanians who think they can get away with it because they are Caymanian…especially the politicians..
Most accidents (like 99%) can be avoided by using your TURN SIGNALS!!! They are there, right beside your steering wheel so please, for the love of all thats holy, USE THEM!!!!!
Culturally, there is surprisingly little “horn-shaming” as one would encounter in many other urban environments around the world. Here, the horn is reserved for saying “hello friend”, or “hey baby need a ride?” It’s often greated with a cheeky honk back in response, rather than an acknowledgement and acceptance of error. In NYC the horn is used almost as frequently as the brake pedal.
11.56 and don’t forget blowing your horn to a Honda with blacked windows might just get you shot or a machete in your head
This article just goes to show that you can’t blame the police for everything, however much the public would like to take responsibility for nothing. They are obviously doing their job, even though the traffic unit is still small, it is really making progress, even with the idiots on dirt bikes. No, the problem is not the cops so much anymore as the stupid road regulations and failures by DVDL to properly license people or more precisely, de-license them. But even more, it’s time for Cayman’s people to take some responsibility for what they do and how they drive, and stop making the fault of ex pats, Jamaicans, the government, the police,and god knows who else. Only then will anything change.
Every single day I see the police drive past cyclists on the wrong side of the road, people parked on double yellow lines, people with only one plate (not the temporary plates), people on phones… I could go on, but anyone can see they are barely scratching the surface and it is something that is hardly being dealt with. The statistics should come as no surprise. Everyone should be taking responsibility for their own actions, but for those that don’t there are laws and these are not being consistently enforced.
Tint, obscured plates, dump truck jack brakes, signaling, illegal bikes…there’s a long list of easy low-lying fruit.
What I would like to know is how this mess with no license plates being available came about? Why are there so many cars who do not have a license plate installed front and back (temporary ones and permanent ones)? It seems these days that it is an option if you want to install license plates and throwing it on your dashboard is now accepted.
All you need to do is walk various parking spots and you see the amount of “sports” vehicles were the owner felt it was unsightly to install a license plate….
i have a sports vehicle and both of my plates are mounted so shut up
Well bully for you. What does that have to do with the posters point that many are not obeying the law, and where does the “shut up” attitude come from? Wind your neck in.
Just brought a new car in…DMV told me sometime in July hopefully – depends on delivery of RFID tech and training…the outstanding temp plates will be called first until that backlog is dealt with…also assumes the next political regime will pick up where this one leaves off. We’ve seen many 180’s over the years where contracts are wasted and the public is left to pick up the tab. I think the RFID plates are a good idea, and that only one rear plate and front window chip ought to be necessary – as they can both be read electronically from 100 meters away. The existence or absence of a front plate won’t reveal any additional information and doubles machining costs.
Question is whether we are going to have a system that will accurately read those chips and how it is going to be used when someone runs into and drives off. How are people to report a suspicious vehicle if perhaps there is only a plate on the back?
In every area of our lives, standards are slipping. This is why the excellent stand out so easily and the rest of us look like the slackers we are.
The frequency of rubber impacts on curbing and lawn damage in medians around Grand Cayman tell the story of hundreds of undocumented excursions and clandestine recoveries that never involved the RCIPS. I recently witnessed a 30 passenger “tourism bus” during “prime operational business hours” meander out of its lane, narrowly miss another car, and collide with the curb of the median in a ruler-straight section of ETH. The reckless, DUI, or high driving penalties should double for any “professional” category driver – be they dump truck, concrete, garbage, delivery van, taxi, bus, or Omni drivers. Some of these people believe they are driving sports cars, or that they can somehow repeal the laws of physics. They are a menace to themselves, pedestrian joggers, cyclists, and everyone else on the road. Construction firms that spill gravel “ball bearings”, or “tire puncturing marl” from overloaded dump trucks should be severely fined and made to clean up after themselves. None of this will happen without a functioning RCIPS Traffic Department, working CCTV, and field coordinating 9-1-1 dispatch operators.
Just the other morning during nose-to-tail rush hour traffic between the Lantern Point roundabout and the dms roundabout at Hurleys, I was almost run off the road by one of two dumptrucks who were weaving between the lanes, racing each other to see who could get to their destination first. I’m in a small car but I stood my ground and didn’t let the ignorant drivers in front of me. One of them proceeded to turn off down South South Road and take an illegal right onto Old Crewe Road to try to beat his buddy. They should be fined or taken off the road before they hurt someone.
It would be a shame to see more and more crackdowns because the public can’t be trusted to abide by simple and common traffic laws.
Cayman must think generationally. The driving test should be re-designed and made harder to pass. Anyone ticketed for selected traffic offences should have to re-take the exam. After ten years, the driving standards in Cayman would improve greatly, but continuing on as we are, nothing will change. Every day I see young drivers adopting sloppy driving habits, instead of cultivating the good habits that might one day save their lives, like two hands on the wheel and using their indicators.
Yeah but if you have no traffic dept who is out EVER DAY to monitor and enforce laws, people will continue to drive without a valid permit cause the chances to be caught are very slim and the fines imposed if caught are not a deterrent.
There should be a basic vision test.
The statistics are staggering even if they are not 100% or didn’t have alcohol , for a population the size of Cayman Islands . I think that the RCIP needs to look into this issue very seriously. There’s all kinds of problems that needs to be addressed .
THE ROADS , BAD DRIVING , AND DRINKING , AND DRIVING . Let’s ask ourselves this question , do you think that the above mentioned makes it safe for ANYONE to be on the roads ? If some action are not taking these problems gets worse.
I think that this issue is something that WE ALL should be participating in . Don’t do it thinking that you would be making the traffic Cops job easier. DO it for yourself and others, because the life you save might be your own .
Crashes reflect the ineptness and incompetence of the RCIPS and the last idiot and his disciples who decided to close down the traffic department for some unwarranted reason. The rest is just these very foolish governments immigration policies who believe issuing work permits and granting status and permenant resdence to every man and his pet to balance their massive budgets Instead they are overwhelming our small infastructure by clogging our roads with cars and increasingly very young and older careless and dangerous local and foreign drivers,Thats what the statistics reflects. Stop expanding our population by issuing all these work permits and stop wasting government revenue is a start or solution to this problem. These problems are only going to increase if we continue down this path. Those touting more roads and more public transport are short term solutions.
NO! It actually reflects the dumb decisions Caymanians make and their ridiculous mentality!!! I have heard them with my own two ears over and over about how they own everything including the roads of the Cayman Islands. Stop blaming the RCIPS when your kind ignores the laws of Cayman. RIDICULOUS!!!.
Why you gotta turn this into another expat vs Caymanian thread? It’s not necessary, there is enough blame to go around on this one. Proper use of roadways is everyone’s responsibility.
They have to fix the crazy Ivan driving…driving too close, too fast, paying more attention to mobiles and make up than what they are doing…every morning I sit on the ETH in traffic, people not realizing traffic moved because they are too busy writing emails… Some ladies seriously applying their mascara… Kids not strapped into seats or with seat belts..anywhere else and it would be an automatic ban…
The kids not strapped in really bugs me, I’m OK that as an adult you can make a choice to not buckle up, it’s your face mashed up if it goes wrong, but not making sure your kids are belted in, to me, is the same as letting them play in the middle of the road, very stupid! I know a lot of people don’t understand physics, nor have they seen those traffic safety videos, some points. A) no you won’t be able to hold on to a child on your lap in an accident, Gforce means a 20lb child will feel like a 400lb child in a 35mph crash B) being in the back seat means nothing, unbuckled they are coming through the car and into the windshield. If that’s all too much to comprehend then think of this, anything unrestrained will continue on at the same speed in a crash, so if you are doing 30mph, when you hit the car in front the child in the back continues on at 30mph, until it is stopped by something, So, to everyone not buckling their kids in, would you let them jump off the top of a three story building – same impact as a 30mph crash (approx). Like I said, pet peeve!
Well said 8.40…and Cayman-its true…buckle the kids up or risk losing them or damaging them badly! For 2 seconds it saves the potential of a life of pain.
Excellent post. In first world countries it is a serious offense to not have children properly buckled into moving vehicles. It is more than a simple traffic ticket. Repeat offenders could have their children taken away.
I recall on the old CI written exam it was perfectly acceptable (and encouraged) for the driver to cradle small infant children on their laps sandwiched between themselves and the steering wheel (air bags). I remember this because I got that question wrong – answering in the opposite, of course!
The result of not enforcing the laws for the last decade.
… or two
Every day when I am out on the roads I see people tailgating, not using indicators, speeding, not stopping completely at stop signs, talking on cell phones, overtaking in a turning lane, changing within roundabouts, not merging properly, parking in handicapped spots, etc. I could probably issue 20+ tickets a day. Hopefully the reinstated traffic department will be proactive… we could easily cut the number of ‘accidents’ in half each year.
Only 20? You must live in EE or Northside! On SMB 50 a day, and that’s only the 20 mins I spend driving a day!
While they are at it could you please stop careering between lanes and STOP using the cycle lane as a third lane for your car.
Please hurry and reinstate the traffice department and get the police cars out on the road so some of this dangerous driving will stop. Only their presence will make people think.
The statistics are skewed by the number of minor accidents where the participants call the police when they are not required to do so provided they exchange insurance particulars. If a constable attends such an accident he/she has to complete a report and so it becomes a statistic.
Even some police officers erroneously believe they should be called for every accident. Talk about a waste of police time…..!
Not documenting the particulars of an accident can cause you major problems. I was told to “exchange particulars” and go about my business by the police dispatcher when I called about an accident where I was HIT FROM BEHIND! Later, I was hit with a FRAUDULENT insurance clam by the person who hit my vehicle! It has cost me thousands of dollars in increased insurance costs, and had me BACKLISTED with every insurer on the island. Get the report and have the officer determine who is “at fault” and avoid this for yourself. Word to the wise!
Over $500 in repair cost, you call the cops. That’s essentially any metal/paint damage – almost every collision.