Rogue drivers cause 40 weekend smashes
(CNS): Last weekend traffic cops arrested eight people on suspicion of DUI, one for being in charge of a vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol and two for driving while disqualified. According to the police “just under 35 tickets” were issued, largely for speeding and illegal tint, and officers responded to almost 40 crashes from Friday, 6 August, and Sunday, 9 August. As the chaos on Cayman’s roads continues, officers warned drivers about the impending wet weather this weekend and urged people to take care and pay attention to the conditions as well as speed limits. Warning drivers that police officers would be out in force the RCIPS once again implored people to improve driving behavior.
“With the weekend approaching and the impending rainy weather forecasted for the Cayman Islands, it is important that we remind road users to exercise caution,” said Inspector Jones of the Traffic and Roads Policing Unit.
“The RCIPS will continue its efforts through visibility, enforcement and education to reduce road fatalities and serious collisions, but we need the assistance of the public to hold each other accountable for their driving behaviours. If you are diving with someone and they are speeding, tell them to slow down. And remember to drive to the conditions; the speed limit is not a target, particularly when the roads are wet,” he added.
Despite the enforcement efforts and the high visibility of the police over the past weekend, vehicle collisions continued, with many of last weekend’s crashes resulting in serious injury for those involved.
“Many of these incidents could have been avoided if drivers were not distracted while driving,” said Acting Superintendent Brad Ebanks. “Mobile phone usage while driving is a major factor in the cause of the road incidents police are attending. Texting and engaging on phones while driving means drivers are not giving 100% of their attention to the road and the surrounding environment and that’s when accidents happen.”
He said there would be an increased presence this weekend, as he urged drivers to be considerate and courteous towards all other road users including cyclist and pedestrians.
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Category: Local News
Rogues abound here, they were once called pirates, rogues of the seas, then they came on land and now are rogues of the road. What are people expecting Cayman would evolve into with that kind of history?
for the love of your jeeeeezus h christ – please learn the outside lane is for passing, once passed, move to the left. If you get a car riding your ass – that’s probably the reason.
“Many of these incidents could have been avoided if drivers were not distracted while driving,” said Acting Superintendent Brad Ebanks. “Mobile phone usage while driving is a major factor in the cause of the road incidents police are attending.”
Ok, then how many tickets have been handed out for phone usage whilst driving? When the RCIPS say they know that phone usage was a factor in an incident, but dont ticket the phone usage, what does that tell us?
A police officers has to SEE a driver using their phone to issue a ticket. An officer showing up at an accident scene that may have been caused by cell phone use obviously didn’t SEE it happen, and thus he/she can’t issue a ticket for it.
For the law, it’s not about what police know. It’s about what can be proven.
A cop ‘seeing’ a cell phone in use isn’t proof either
10.25am It tells us that is why they are issuing tickets for illegal tinting – I estimate 30% of our cars are infringing this regulation which means 30% of our drivers can yap on their cell phones all day long as they will never be caught.
How does a country of 70k people have 40 crashes on a weekend. Seriously. That is crazy.
There are places 5 times this size, that do not have that many accidents on a weekend.
It’s 65K people. Prove me wrong.
Agreed. See the article the Compass ran to understand where the 70k came from.
https://www.caymancompass.com/2021/08/15/government-using-upper-limit-of-error-margin-to-estimate-population/
8.10am Because half our drivers are plain stupid!.
When they are going to stop and ticket people without plate numbers? It is getting worst.
These idiots could make so much money sitting literally anywhere at anytime for 4 hours.
Why you all can’t drive on a straight road w/out bad weather conditions is beyond me.
Didn’t catch me and I was drunk as F.
why do the police go after all the dirt bikes and turn a blind eye to electric bird scooters and other electric scooters on the roads? I saw a person on a stand up scooter going around ALT round about as if he were a car(not on the side walks). Very dangerous to all road users.
Also a drunk person on a BIRD scooter will soon be hit down on west bay road. I guess rent at your own risk. They should not be allowed on this island.
what nonsense…you could say same thing about cyclists.
If you can’t share a 25 limit road 3 lanes wide with a few drunks on scooters then maybe its you who should be allowed on the road!
What sidewalks?
will keep asking:
my dashcam records hundred of incidents of dangerous driving every week.
why do rcips not want this footage?
why would a police department not want clear evidence of people breaking the law?
if i had video footage or robberies, would they want the footage?
will wait for answers
Chain of custody refers to the documentation that establishes a record of the control, transfer, and disposition of evidence in a criminal case. Evidence in a criminal case may include DNA samples, photographs, documents, personal property, or bodily fluids that were taken from a defendant or discovered at the scene of an alleged crime.
To prove someone guilty, a prosecutor must prove that the evidence presented in court is the same evidence that was recovered at the scene of an alleged crime. They must be able to show that the evidence was handled properly and was not contaminated or tampered with. If law enforcement does not properly handle evidence, the evidence can be challenged on the grounds that it was tampered with, that test results are faulty or inaccurate, or that evidence was planted at the scene of a crime.
Save the footage, make a complaint, have a statement recorded, allow the police access to your video files. It really is that simple.
So now you don’t have to wonder any more. You’ll receive a crime number, you can then follow up as to the progress if nobody keeps you updated.
Many UK police forces now have a traffic reporting process that allows the public to send them dashcam footage and make a statement describing the incident they captured. It’s not rocket science.
It’s time the courts realise that disqualifying offenders from driving has no affect in this country. The only way to keep them off the roads is JAIL.
Yes! Using the outside lane too much and not indicating should face driving bans for a year
Public stoning if you ask me.
Which one is the outside lane? Left or right? Asking for a friend.
The right. Scary that people need to ask that
Under the Traffic Act 2021 remaining in the outside lane is deemed inconsiderate driving. Overtaking n the inside – possibly because someone has remained in the outside lane and wont move over! – is careless driving. Both are offences under section 77 of the Act, and penalties include up to 6 months in jail and a driving ban of up to 12 months. Never enforced.
Bring back the pillory!
If caught driving whilst disqualified usually ends with a term in jail.
8.28am But dozens of these banned drivers are on the roads every day, they don’t get caught unless they rear end a police car.
Perhaps it needs to start with the driving schools whose instructors have clearly never read or understood the Highway Code. For starters, if you’re in the right hand lane approaching a roundabout, don’t signal right if you intend going straight on, instead, signal left once you’ve passed the exit(s) before the one you intend taking. And don’t get me started about people who think the right lane is theirs when there’s nothing in the left.. You muppets are the reason why there’s so much weaving going on. Stay left UNLESS you’re overtaking, and if you do overtake something MOVE OVER TO THE LEFT AGAIN!
The nit using the left lane thing is also wants causes most of the traffic problems. Drives me mad. As for the indicating right when going straight on at roundabouts – shocking that’s taught at driving schools. Most
Bizarre thing and never seen it in any other country. Shocking. The lack of brain power to think that’s correct is unbelievable – why would anyone think to indicate right when going straight but not indicate left when you turn off a roundabout? It’s behind belief.
If you are in the right lane approaching a roundabout you should be making a right turn at that roundabout. But tell that to most of the idiot drivers on the road.
That’s not true. You can go straight in the right lane if their are two lanes.
To quote Donald Trump, “Wrong”!
Not necessarily. If it is a dual carriageway into the roundabout and a dual carriageway exiting the straight ahead exit then in principle you can go straight over from both the left or right lane (which is, of course, what many of the road markings on the approaches to roundabouts indicate…..).
But you can also go straight in the right lane? Other than at camana bay which will have 6 exists once all open so who knows how that is meant to work…
8.36am I do find it difficult to drive in a straight line on a roundabout, am I missing something?.
Not true. If the exit is 2 lanes then left or right lane can go straight on.
6.25pm That’s why they end up in the middle of the roundabout.
Even indicating right when in the left lane to go straight… I think you are trying to change lanes. Just stop indicating right when going straight, full stop.
Well done RCIPS. I am quick to critisise but also quick to recognise. It is really important work you are doing, to make Cayman’s roads safer.
They do nothing. Grow up
Most police on lifetime paid vacation…non existent on roads.. sad
So I saw a car early Sat morning BLAZING past old margaritaville/TI on west bay road (round 5:15am). I left shortly after and sure enough the guy appeared to have crashed his own car by the esso at kirk. The speeding in the late night/early am hours is the worst I can hear it living near the road as well it sounds like a friggin race track.
Responded? What about road blocks? Spped traps? Police are almost non existent doing this? Why?
Every Sunday the Queen’s Highway is used as a race track. Organised groups with scouts using radios. Tire burnout tracks are clearly evident. The noise is like an F1 telecast. All totally ignored by RCIP. Or possibly sanctioned and encouraged. The road is also the only one on island that has no CCTV. Hmmmmm.
Literally never doing traffic patrols.
Only qualfiied expats should be allowed to drive here without a cayman driving test, it’s a British driving system, 90 per cent including all police cars, buses and taxis can’t drive properly. Most caymanians can’t drive properly. All use the outside lane when inside is available and don’t indicate. All undertake and the biggest most bizarre thing… loads of people indicate right when going straight on at a roundabout, work that one out!!!
My favourite are the halfwits who turn right at a roundabout using the left hand lane. Unbelievable. I think I might get a Raptor and just drive through the next idiot to do it.
This issue has been fixed now at the Chrissie Tomlinson roundabout (or whatever it is now called), who knew it simply required new signs and actual plastic sticks in the road showing idiots where they should and should not be.
On another note, that roundabout is tended by a landscape company for seemingly every frickin day. Apart from that being unnecessary, they also park on the roundabout, or in the section designated that vehicles shouldn’t be present. I mean seriously, these muppets need to engage their brains.
Most caymanians can’t drive properly? How do you id someone’s nationality just by looking at them? What kind of clown makes these stupid generalizations? Would you have said that if not for the cover of internet anonymity?
I swear these comment sections are so toxic but I guess it’s better to know what kind of presumptuous small minded bigots I am surrounded by than to pretend like they don’t exist.
Because they image half the population (half the drivers) and there were 40 crashes in a weekend. In a country of 70,000 people. That is a shocking record. Some countries with millions of people don’t have as many accidents and deaths each year as we do.
Clearly not bothered about the asshats on the dirt bikes who are back in rush hour traffic again
All in a half hours work.
Sitting on South Sound Road this morning at 815am, radar gun in hand, traffic rolling at a cool 10-15mph.
If I was a cop I’d just be walking through Foster’s parking lot on a Saturday. I’d make Sargent in a few weeks…
I’ve been overtaken by dickheads in that location at that time. Keep up the presence 24/7 if needed.