Police to target drunk and bad drivers on NYE
(CNS): After a relatively quiet Christmas for the RCIPS, drivers are being urged not to drink and drive but to behave responsibly this coming weekend, as the holidays continue and people celebrate the New Year on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Acting Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton said the high-profile policing would continue with road checks not only to round up criminal suspects but to deter rogue drivers who, as has been seen this year with the number of serious collisions, continue to flout the law.
“We continue to support the community with Operation Winter Guardian,” Walton told CNS. “Our officers will continue with overt and covert patrols as well as visible vehicle checkpoints to deny the use of our roads for criminal purposes, as well as continued traffic enforcement to deter the blatant disregard to the Cayman Islands Traffic Act seen this year so far.”
Fourteen people have been killed on the road in the Cayman Islands this year and another on the Breakers race track in 14 separate road smashes, the highest number of deaths over the last six years, which Walton recently described as “an astronomical figure”. Over those six years, 65 people have died in collisions, which Walton said was an awful lot of families suffering trauma, as he appealed to the community to exercise due care while driving to prevent any more loss of lives.
With 2,500 smashes so far this year, the police are concerned about the potential for more serious accidents over the holidays. Walton urged people to make arrangements to get home some way other than driving if they are going out and drinking this weekend.
“The RCIPS strongly encourages the community to be safe over this coming holiday weekend by not drinking and driving but instead utilising the Purple Ribbon Bus on New Year’s Eve, which is provided by the Arrive Alive 345 Campaign. We hope that this weekend will be one of celebration and family, and we wish the people of the Cayman Islands a Happy and Prosperous New Year when it comes,” he added.
Over on Cayman Brac, where the community is still reeling from an unprecedented armed robbery, Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay reassured the community there that this was very much a one-off, “very rare” crime. He said that because of significant help from the community, the Brac officers assisted by a team from Grand Cayman were quickly able to arrest the suspect. He said that continued assistance on the Sister Islands would help the RCIPS to maintain the peace and good order that the community there is used to.
But he also urged people not to drink and drive as the Purple Ribbon Bus will be running on New Year’s Eve on the Brac as well as Grand Cayman and there will be checkpoints throughout the holiday weekend on the Sister Island to deter people from getting behind the wheel drunk.
Urging people to obey the traffic law, he said that calling him after they have been given a ticket asking for a break is too late. “This is your break now: don’t drink and drive,” he said.
Two of this year’s road fatalities were on Cayman Brac, and CI Kay said his team would be out and about in the bars through the evening on New Year’s Eve and watching people leaving around closing time. “My main goal is to deter people,” he said and urged drivers to make a plan. “All I want is for people to go out and enjoy themselves but to get home safely.”
Police have said they will be making use of the new legislation that has reduced the blood alcohol limit to .07%, which means those who ignore the law and drink and drive are almost certain to fail a breath test and will lose their licence.
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Category: Crime, Crime Prevention, Police
new year same old story….bottom line, the police farce don’t care and don’t enforce basic road laws. how many people get done for careless/dangerous driving every day?
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 of robberies, would they want the footage?
will wait for answers
I see plenty of contestants for ‘amateur night’ already. I hope and pray there are no crashes tonight. Here on the Brac, there have already been fights last night and other semi-violence.
I have an idea, just bear with me. Let us all just chill and take the Purple Ride home and don’t get all jacked up over domino games and try ramping down our collective anger.
Of course, anyone reading this is likely not part of the problem, but hey, you never know.
You are so right. My son and friends were in line at Burger Shack after midnight and a car load of young men arrived and they tried to push in front asking did he know who they were and then one pulled a knife and threatened our son. No police around!
I took a taxi home last year after getting very drunk. The problem is that in the morning I had no idea where to return it to.
Just make the locals and the Jamaicans pass a real driving test, then we have no deaths on the roads
im an expat and it’s more than locals, yes, it’s a given Jamaicans are TERRIBLE at driving. never buy a car from a Jamaican, everything is used on it, except the signal lights.
As the old saying goes.
But it’s also expats. To be perfectly honest. Roundabouts need to go
with the advent of solar stop lights. those need to be implemented
and since i have a voice here. FOR ALL OF YOU THAT SEE STOP LIGHTS BLINKING RED CAUSE THE LIGHTS DON’T WORK. The intersection becomes a 4 way stop. And to further explain. the first person to STOP is the next person to go. You idiots don’t know this and think it’s a free for all.
Nothing wrong with roundabouts. They are the safest and most efficient kind of intersection as all cars are travelling in roughly the same direction if there is an impact and in light traffic everyone can keep moving. (Traffic lights are more efficient in very heavy traffic but in all cases less safe). The problem we have here is drivers who are incapable of driving ANY intersection or road safely at ANY speed. We have traffic accident rates between 5 and 15 times worse than Europe and the UK depending on parameter. It is blindingly obvious to anyone who has driven extensively in those places that the problem here is the drivers. Our test is pathetically easy. I know one kid who passed after 2 lessons! 2! This is absolutely ridiculous.
Don’t forget the steadfast practice of queuing across junctions rather than keeping them clear, and how that just messes up everything for everybody going in every direction. Like the daily occurrence of traffic lights changing to green but you can’t move – nowhere you can go.
You must mean the Filipinos. A company vehicle with three Filipino men almost wrote me off at the shamrock roundabout coming from prospect. I was in the right lane and they were in the left (which only filters to the left as the roundabout has pole and lines to incidate such). The man driving decided he no longer wanted to go left and proceeded to attempt to squeeze pass the poles in the roundabout and hit me in the process. I had to stop and sit on my horn as I was already in the single lane. He was so shocked when he finally realized what was about to happen. Every near accident I’ve experienced on these roads involved a Filipino or tourist.
Nah. They all on the unlicensed and illegal “bicycles” which the RCIPS has chosen to conveniently ignore. Only a matter of time. ☠️
Drunk and bad? I’m safe then, I drive great when I’m drunk
You think that because you’re drunk at the time.
driving drunk is still safer than taking a taxi
Keep up the good work Kurt, your leadership is making a difference with the cops. Hopefully the powers that be can see we need a local Commissioner.
Anyone found the last one yet?
Yes, when there’s an emergency, the only police commissioner we can count on is a local one. Oh wait…
Uber or equivalent
Have 0.00 tolerance for ride share drivers and have them qualify for a ride share license etc.
It’s so f—ing simple
Forget the taxi system as it stands it’s useless and overpriced and can’t respond to peak demand periods besides have of them are drunk.
Flex is the Uber for Cayman . Have all the technology of Uber but , thank you C.I Government, only licensed taxi drivers can be used thus it just is not working. The Taxi drivers association appears to have a lot of political clout so Flex , although replicating Uber, cannot survive.
Yes, but most of the taxi drivers have no other skills, and have issues with numeracy and literacy. They’d be on the scrap heap overnight, as if you’re having only good drivers in the Uber or equivalent, they probably wouldn’t pass muster.
Still, completely agree, get rid of these anachronisms.
There are no reliable taxis in cayman. The bus, public transport and Uber services in cayman are third world at the very best. It’s embarrassing.
A lot of crooked taxi drivers. I had one young guy insist that I pay a $5 Airport drop off fee that he said had been instituted the previous weekend. I had another charge my sister $30 to go 2.5 miles down South Sound Road at 11pm. Another charged my visiting friend $50 to go from Deckers to South Church street and then threaten to call the police when he questioned the price. He then dropped him off on the side of the road, about 200 metres from our door. I have also prearranged taxis for a morning airport run and simply not show up. A lot of the taxi drivers here are disgraceful
Drunk and bad drivers on the road daily. They should be doing this all year round.
So, the police force that needs to take an English test as half or more cannot read or write, is going to enforce laws they don’t even understand themselves. Your other option is to get in a taxi here or a bus. Been in 3 taxis here, first one drove 2 blocks on the wrong side of the road because they didn’t understand the construction zone, the second the driver was on thier phone the whole time and the third the taxi was in such bad repair that I was scared for my life. The Bus “system” is deplorable, not on time, full of incompetent drivers and not in real busses, your basically sitting on top of eachother. I dont condone drinking and driving, but I understand why people do it. Give them viable options that are easier to take. Problem solved. Fix your problems and you’ll see results.
why fix it, when the government makes 2k a pop per person charged with drinking and driving.
Then those people drive without a license and insurance. More fines. up to 5k a pop.
why stop the money train?
I got Wayne’s number. I can stay at the office as late as I want and not a damn thing the PoPo can do about it.
#younotseenuttin
Silly old constabulary, everyone knows,
‘If you’re going to drink & drive, crash into a lamp pole’
So only on NYE then?
Unless you are an MLA for Boddentown.
Hush with that because Wayne and Jon Jon will get voted right back in as long as the “gifts” keep flowing
Targeting bad drivers???? You gonna need a BIGGER jail!!!
Only the drivers worse than themselves which leaves almost none. Besides the RCIPS traffic cops couldn’t spot a bad driver even if one just happened to mow down a light pole.
The TRAFFIC cops don’t know how to drive either!
I am not particularly concerned with NYE drinking and driving, it’s more every other day and night. The lack of enforcement is ridiculous with all things to do with the roads. The net result is what we have now – ridiculously bad driving seen on a daily basis, literally every journey.
Road deaths aren’t the only metric to factor when calculating the cost of RCIPS traffic dereliction. Where do we find these guys, and why do we retain people that feel the need to issue proclamations that they intend to show up for duty on the last day in the calendar year?!? Can you imagine any other vocation where such a galling admission of ineptitude could be submitted to clients, without the department being fired? Good grief.
Laudable statements from A/Comm Walton and CI Kay who are both sensible and sincere men but we all know that the ONLY way that we will bring down our deplorable road fatality figure is by adopting a 3 pronged approach:
1. The taxi cartel has to be challenged with Uber or similar allowed to set up on the island. The price of a 2 or 3 mile journey is quite frankly ludicrous and prohibitive.
2. A modern and efficient public transport system must be introduced and the current bunch of lawless maniacs driving their own ‘buses’ must be made to sit a UK standard driving test and thereafter provided with a bus fit for purpose. If islands much smaller than Cayman can do it, eg. the Channel Islands, then so can we.
3. There still must be robust policing for those who will not get the message. As CI Kay himself mentioned, we have clowns still looking for a bly after having been given a ticket. That is a culture change issue which is MUCH harder to overcome.
Lastly, drivers also have to take personal responsibility for their actions. We have to eradicate this ridiculous ‘5 and drive’ mentality that pervades our islands. Licensed premises also have a part to play. They know when their patrons are plastered and then get into their vehicles. Do your civic duty and contact 911. You may actually save a life.
I agree with what you say except for 2. None of the population at large will use it and it will close down in months, if not weeks.
5:16, It works effectively in Bermuda so why not here on Grand Cayman?
The bus system has to be efficient though.
True. Bermuda should be the model used to bring in a suitable, integrated public transport system.
Then reduce the number of hire cars and imports.
Also in Bermuda, the ONE car per household rule means more people NEED to use the buses.
I’d use it!
Having UBER on Island could solve so many of the drinking and driving problems. Locals and tourists are fed up being ripped off by taxi drivers in the late evening for a very short ride.
Break the taxi cartel in 2023.
The (ridiculous) government tariff enables this. I can (and do) go 200 miles in a taxi when visiting the UK for the cost of a ride from GT to Northward Rd. here.
It’s legalized theft
Come on govt it isn’t that many votes
The minister of illegal billboards needs their votes.
Crossover comment: RCIPS is hunting 3rd man but no name or photo available??
It’s not sporting.
I hope that all have a safe and fun New Year’s Holiday.
PS. You don’t need alcohol and/or drugs to party.
You don’t need your car. Much more fun if it stays home.
You haven’t been in my car after a night out. 😉😉
Great if you live near town.
You have fun at your church, we’ll do us.
ignoramus defined.