Pile-up as traffic chaos returns

| 26/06/2020 | 48 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): Despite the opportunity to improve the situation provided by the COVID-19 re-set, the chaotic traffic on Cayman’s roads before the pandemic appears to be back just one week into the re-opening of the economy. This was illustrated by a three-car pile-up on Friday morning on Shamrock Road, near Agricola Drive in Lower Valley. All those involved in the crash were taken to hospital, police said.

All three drivers are suffering non-life-threatening injuries after the collision, which happened at around 9:30am. The RCIPS Traffic and Roads Policing Unit is now investigating the crash, which is one of hundreds that have now taken place since lockdown.

Police have expressed significant concerns about the behaviour of drivers as people return to the road. Last Friday Police Commissioner Derek Byrne revealed his concerns about speeding drivers and that over 500 speeding tickets had been issued by police over the previous ten days.

The circumstances of this collision are currently under police investigation.


Share your vote!


How do you feel after reading this?
  • Fascinated
  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Bored
  • Afraid
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tags:

Category: Local News

Comments (48)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Fgo@gmail.com says:

    Start sending these bad drivers home – we have no jobs for them – they need to be gone – there is going to be crime and more crime. Send them home!!!!! We have done more than enough for them.

  2. Anonymous says:

    What is this “traffic” you all speak of?

    – Motorcyclist

    2
    1
  3. Anonymous says:

    Proper Public Transport!
    A lot more workers in Town & along Seven Mile Beach could use pubic transport if there was a good system.
    (Also to community college & through South Sound)
    And it would facilitate easier commutes from out East.

    A proper public transport system will have to be subsidised however, or the operators will only focus on the quick-cash routes.

  4. Anonymous says:

    If your workmates are paying for their own work permit and insurance, which is SHIC at best, they should report the employer to the authorities as its illegal. But just a few problems with that unfortunately.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Yesterday I witnessed an ambulance racing south on ETH towards hospital with siren and lights going and nobody was pulling over as required by law – including professional bus/taxi drivers. There should be siren-activated dash cams in every EMS vehicle, AND there should be an automatic one year license suspension for any driver that fails to yield to an EMS response. If Byrne, and his Traffic Unit can’t crack the whip on TERRIBLE DRIVERS, then we need to send them home and find replacements worthy of the salary and benefits we are shoveling out – with near-zero performance.

    28
    1
    • Anonymous says:

      There should be law enforcement on island. But it was deemed culturally insensitive.

      12
      2
      • Anonymous says:

        Expert advice above. The problem is, most police vehicles have no cameras. The vehicles that don’t get out of the way can get away with it because guess what, the vehicle with the lights and sirens is already trying to do something important, and stopping to ticket someone when there’s some domestic assault happening isn’t a priority.

        I can confirm however, that it makes police, ambulance and fire drivers very angry.

    • ME says:

      Professional is a word that should never accompany bus/taxi drivers.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Start testing vehicle emissions as part of the road worthy inspection, purely guess but reckon 30-40 percent of the vehicles currently on the road would have to be scrapped. You can smell when a cars illegal get rid of them.

    28
    5
  7. Anonymous says:

    The roads here are truly one of the few refuges available for the clinically stupid.

    Treat everyone as though they’re idiots, and you’ll be fine.

    29
  8. Anonymous says:

    Kudos to RCIPS. Those traffic boys and girls have been highly visible on shamrock road in a morning, and I’ve witnessed them ticketing a whole load of idiots. Keep up the good work. Hopefully some nice $500 tickets.

    29
    2
    • Anonymous says:

      Where? The rest of us haven’t heard a police siren in months! Where are they?

      • Anonymous says:

        Kindly piss off. Police chase bikers they get in trouble. Police don’t chase people, you complain.

        I live shamrock road, and I hear plenty of sirens.

  9. anon says:

    These dump truck drivers are maniacs, on the two lane sections between Hurleys and Prospect most of them reach 60mph. It seems they are paid by the number of trips they make, this should be illegal. They should also be ticketed, I never see any attempt at this by the police.

    64
    1
    • Anonymous says:

      I’m fairly sure one idiot driver just WhatsApp group messages his equally terrible at driving friends to say, look, there’s a speed trap at …… road.

      Rcips traffic units keep moving, but it’s an uphill battle against some of these people.

  10. Anonymous says:

    “Don’t stop tiiiiickeeeetin, hold on to that feeeeeeelin, RCIP People stay aaaaahhhhheeeee-eeeaaddd”

    please.

    1
    8
  11. Elvis says:

    We have idiots behind wheels of powerful vehicles, most couldn’t even pass a proper driving test if the truth be known and done correctly along with a written test and not the outdated multiple choice child test they required when I sat it. Luckily I was a safe driver before I arrived here others came from…well…..u know the rest right?

    25
    2
  12. Anonymous says:

    Seems like there is even more cars after lockdown. Why can’t cayman try to become less of a driving society.

    23
    2
    • Anonymous says:

      Manifesting the 2015-budgeted and promised bike lane and pedestrian sidewalk plan would hurt the Cabinet’s fuel station party faithful who have presumably paid already for those things to fall off current regime’s task list.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Please ticket those drivers doing 25mph in a 40mph zone between 5am- 10am and 4PM-7pm mondays to fridays . These drivers are just as dangerous on the road. I would bet half of them dont have license/insurance.

    Police needs to be trained to clear the road so traffic can be able to flow when there is an accident. What if there was another emergency or two? The responding team will never arrive to save lives.

    Goverment needs to take their heads out of their ass.

    I am sick of seeing alcohol advertising on my phone. They seem to be the biggest drug pushers on the island.
    I’ll have a drink now and then but I prefer to smoke a little weed.
    Alcohol has killed more people on cayman roads than anything else and still they push it in your face everywhere you turn. We have more liquor stores than beach access.

    46
    5
    • Anonymous says:

      To be fair its kind of like Covid-19 and a heart attack. If one is drunk and stoned and dies in a car accident, what’s the cause of death?

      11
  14. Anonymous says:

    I had to venture into GT on “reopen day” Monday 22 and the traffic was horrible. It would have been great for Government to keep the alphabet days just to reduce the daily traffic!

    29
    3
  15. Anonymous says:

    Bring back the curfews and lockdowns please. I’d forgotten how retarded most of the drivers were here. It would solve a huge problem if it was illegal for Jamaicans to drive here.

    44
    7
    • Anonymous says:

      1. Decent Public Transport System
      2. Ban the import of cars valued at less than 20K
      3. Make the ability to have a drivers license an element of work permit conditions.

      Solved.

      22
      20
      • Anonymous says:

        @ 9.57 Yeah, because we all work for Maples and KPMG and Walkers and can afford 20k cars. How about bringing down the cost of cars on this rock so people don’t import? Entitled arse.

        25
        18
      • ThIs WrItInG Is VeRy IrRiTaTiNg says:

        If there were a proper set of traffic laws in place and they were enforced a good number of drivers would be disqualified very quickly. Less than half the people I see in daily traffic know what a safe following distance is, use indicators, stop at stop signs or know how to use roundabouts. The worst offence of all is having children roaming around moving vehicles. In first world countries that is a serious offence but here no one seems to care about the safety of these children. When you mention it to parents they tell you to mind your own business. If the police bothered to give tickets for these things instead of only focusing on speeding there would be a lot of people who could no longer afford a vehicle after paying tickets. Unpaid tickets should also prevent people from getting a work permit or renewing a passport. If proper vehicle inspections were done some of the death traps would be off the road as well.

        28
        • Anonymous says:

          Saw an SUV yesterday with a tailgate full of unbelted kids – little heads all moving around like dogs going to the vet. There should be a license to have children!

      • Anonymous says:

        Safe, shaded bike lanes and “sharrow” campaign to educate all road users.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes because ALL Jamaicans are crap drivers smh. Some of you are ppl are just so smart.

      9
      8
      • Anonymous says:

        Yep you’re right they ALL are. I bet if there were proper statistics of the demographics of people crashing and speeding on this Island at least 70% would be Jamaican. Keep your shitty bad driving habits on your own Island not ours.

        14
        4
        • Anonymous says:

          I beg to differ. I’m sure statistics would show otherwise. Just blame it on the Jamaicans tho as usual.

          1
          4
      • Anonymous says:

        All Jamaicans and caymanians should be made to take a written and practical driving test before being allowed on the road, and then a refresher course every ten years. I come from the uk and it wi disgusting how bad the driving is here – well over half the people on our roads would be disqualified from driving in the up within a week but her the police do nothing, and the cayman road system is based on the us Highway Code.

        4
        7
        • Anonymous says:

          Please stop, you brits are horrible drivers. Road temper on high just like your massive addiction to alcohol.

          4
          1
        • Anonymous says:

          just YouTube road rage uk and see how bad the driving can be in the uk

          • Anonymous says:

            You mean the UK, with over 60m people and a wide range of road types?

            60m people will have a lot of stupid. The original point stands though. The UK, and the EU have actual tough hoops to jump through in order to drive.

            Most Latin American and Caribbean countries simply don’t have robust testing, or the system is open to widespread corruption.

    • Anonymous says:

      Pass by any building site, there’s one car (usually barely roadworthy) for every worker, parked on the street.

      This should be stopped. Contractors should bus their employees to and from sites daily from a pick up point, or from their various compounds.

      Too many poorly maintained vehicles and too many bad construction worker drivers on our roads!

      14
      2
      • Anonymous says:

        let me educate you a little. some of those construction workers are caymanians. I am one of them. We build your million dollar homes and buildings. It’s not the construction workers fault they can’t afford a $20,000 + vehicle or a decent wage to get a mortgage.
        We need to be to work on time Same as you white color folks.
        Back to wages. Cayman island is a perfect example of modern day slavery. Many of these people are working for $10-$13 per hour and much less. They have to pay for their own work permits,insurance,rent, food,transportation,they dont get the benefits that the law requires like time and a half or double time. Honestly I dont even get these benefits.Its normal for me to work 13 days and dont receive what the Cayman islands fish pots labour requires. UNLESS!! YOUR WHITE AND FORM CANADA, UK ,USA , SOUTH AFRICA. ONLY THEN YOU CAN QUALIFY FOR WAGES OF $25+ PER HOUR WITH THE REAL PACKAGE BENEFITS LIKE FREE CONDO ON THE BEACH, PERSONAL CAR WITH ALL INCLUSIVE INSURANCE AND FULL TANK OF GAS.
        NO EXPERIENCE OR QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED.

        Tarra Rivers and friends thank you for the $5 min wage. You politicians are really looking out for us caymanians.

        7
        17
        • john says:

          I’m not sure where you get the idea that lawyers get free condos on the beach.
          I’ve owned and rented out a condo on the beach for some 30 years to multiple tenants.
          Every one of those tenants paid their own rent.

          6
          3
        • Anonymous says:

          Tell them!!! Time for cayman to stop putting the white man on a pedestal and start looking out for its own kind.

          4
          1
        • Anonymous says:

          I wish I got paid $10 to $13 dollars an hour

        • Anonymous says:

          Isn’t it against the law to make people pay for work permits?

        • Anonymous says:

          I have been here 25 years, still waiting on my free beach condo etc…

          Not sure if the original poster really meant “Same as you white color folks.” as a race issue or “white collar” folks as a class issue

  16. Anonymous says:

    Where are the safe cycling paths? If Joey is determined to fail us on the NRA Plan from a half decade ago, then maybe we can get at least get some sharrows stenciled along the major thoroughfares.

    15
    3
    • Anonymous says:

      I rode my bike everywhere during lockdown and loved it. However, now that we’ve reopened, it is back in storage. Not safe here because of no cycle lanes.
      But they don’t seem to get it.
      That is how you get cars off the roads. Make it safer to cycle.

  17. Anonymous says:

    The roads must be closed to vehicular traffic. More persons have died on our roads in 2020 than have died from Covid-19. Vehicular curfew!

    35
    2
    • Anonymous says:

      Not a bad idea. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

      West Bay Rd should delete the center turn lane (few use properly), and be reduced to single north and south from the Public beach to George Town, “the Hotel Tourism Zone”(at minimum). With wide painted bike paths on either side, shaded and protected with boulevards of treed Cayman-style planter boxes (built by HMP Wood shop) and bougainvillea. The east side of the road should have a continuous pedestrian sidewalk the full length…like we are expecting visitors. This would create a social patio-centric dine/drink scene that doesn’t currently exist when the key deck areas abut unpoliced speedways on both sides.

      We have an army of jobless that can be hired to reconfigure this section of road, paint/stencil lanes and get it done. All the taxis will be driverless in a couple years anyway. We have an opportunity now to reconfigure and add incredible value and fun to our product offering.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.