Two injured, one arrested for DUI after crash on ETH
(CNS): Two men who were standing by the roadside on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway on Thursday night were injured when a Honda Civic crashed into two parked cars. The police said that the two injured men were transported to the Cayman Islands Hospital for treatment, where one of them remains in critical condition with what appear to be non-life-threatening injuries.
The RCIPS said that shortly after 11:00pm on 5 June, officers responded to a report of a multi-vehicle collision on the ETH, south of Lawrence Boulevard, involving a Honda Civic that was travelling north and two cars that were parked on the roadside — another Honda Civic and a Honda Accord — and two men who were standing beside the stationary vehicles.
The driver of the first Honda Civic, a 29-year-old resident of George Town, was arrested on suspicion of DUI. He was breath tested with a result of 0.229%, and has been granted bail as investigations continue. While one of the injured men remains in hospital, the other has since been discharged.
The RCIPS continues to remind the public of the dangers of drinking and driving. “If you are drinking, you must make alternative arrangements to get to your destination, which do not involve getting behind the wheel of a vehicle,” Traffic and Roads Policing Unit Inspector Andrey Tahal said.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Controversial viewpoint but its based in reality. DUI accidents are not just because someone has had a few beers. Its because they’re either/both reckless drivers or very poor drivers. Plenty of people have 1 or 2 beers or a glass of wine and drive perfectly well and capable, within the speed limits, don’t undertake or cut across roundabouts, ignore red lights, etc. Unfortunately there are so many astonishingly poor drivers, reckless drivers, speedsters on this little islands of ours. And then when combined with heavy drinking. Boom.
Of course, not condoning drinking and driving. But be real – many people do it (one or two drinks) every weekend and nothing comes of it because they’re actually not boy racers or idiots or poor drivers.
It all comes back to giving licenses to people who can’t drive. You can follow the usual suspects for 2 minutes and count multiple UK test fails. Jesus, most of RCIPS can’t drive either, only the FRU truck appears to have the slightest clue.
Controversial and also lacking any scientific basis. Any amount of alcohol will reduce reaction time and affect judgment, but the one glass of wine or 2 beers you mention are unlikely to reach DUI levels of blood alcohol as set in the law. So you wouldnt be DUI, irrespective of whether you have an accident or not. But your driving – no matter how good it is sober – would be impaired. Fact that it might still be better than some sober people on the island isnt really the issue. It has to be an objective standard – the police can hardly give every driver they pull over a driving test.
RCIPS… where are you? We see the crazy drivers every single day but not you. I see maybe 1 cop car a day on the roads and they are ignoring law breakers even then.
Wrong. When a badly maintained dump truck pisses oil all over the road, they had two traffic units to close the road. Also, two NRA vehicles, and two Fire Service units. All that, because someone decided to drive some relic from the 80s that was poorly maintained.
Tip of the iceberg.
Jamaica all the way
The police are not responsible for people making bad decisions. They are only responsible for taking action after one is made.
Can Jon Jon tell us about equipment parked on the road at night?
Maybe he could if he saw it, but it just jumped out in front of him.
Why not ask Honorable Seymour about drunk driving?
Can ask Rolston too.
Does not remember
I agree with the comments about hazard lights. Too many times I have seen vehicles pulled over to the side, or trucks making deliveries, or vehicles that have been in accidents… all stopped in or close to traffic lanes without any hazard lights flashing. It is so simple to switch them on and alert other drivers. The government obviously has many priorities, but IMHO improving the situation on our roads has to be at or near the top of the list.
On the flipside, the amount of vehicles you see with hazards on for no discernible reason, going on their way is also stupid. You also have those who think by having their hazards on it negates the need for a trailer with lights on the back, particularly people transporting cement mixers, boats, and jetskis. Some of the larger things being towed completely block all lights, so what’s the actual point? Police don’t enforce things anyhow, so meh.
My favourite yesterday was a white panel van, rear window was replaced with a solid piece of wood or metal painted white, and the driver had no wing mirror on his side. Dumbasses are everywhere.
Did people see the wrecked old Civic on Bobby Thompson Way, it had crashed and wiped out a light pole. This is a 25 zone, apparently.
Tonight I watched a 1 series BMW smash into a Range Rover on the ETH just before Butterfield roundabout. Ahead of the crash, the BMW was probably clocking around 90+
Our roads are full of cretins.
On another note, for those heading home on an evening and find yourself heading towards Kings roundabout on the LPH, please use all 3 lanes, with lane 1 being used until you have to merge. If you all queue up solely in lanes 2 and 3, the traffic will back up quicker to the next roundabout, which then blocks progress for cars that need to turn there, too. It’s really basic stuff!
Why is the lane leading to King’s roundabout STILL CLOSED????
I would guess that it’s because they want whatever monster of a roundabout they’re working on, along with wanting three lanes by Maedac to be completed.
They could open it, but let’s face it, they’d have everyone going in the left lane and doing U-turns by Tropical Gardens, or even that little bit before, and then slowing everything even more.
because it leads into a wall :s
walls don’t normally change the driving attitudes here!
?
The joke is that many drivers here seem oblivious to walls until they smash into one. This happens every day.
Nothing excuses dui but why exactly were two cars parked on ETH? I’m starting to see this more often usually because someone is taking a call. This behaviour is wrong – you should only stop on a major road if there is an issue … not to take a call. Plus, if you stop on a major road you need to activate hazard lights and put a physical portable warning sign on the hard shoulder so you give people 100+ yards of warning.
Why is noone questioning why they were STANDING on the side of ETH next to the PARKED cars?! WHY are they PARKING their cars on a highway? What the hell. Did I miss something in the story?
Maybe one broke down and someone came to assist him?
The speeding drunk maniac is the problem.
@ 07/06/2025 at 10:16 pm Agreed the drunk driver is a problem – that’s a given. But standing on the side of the highway having a chat / fixing a car without hazards or any warning signs is ALSO a problem. It happens too frequently.
yes and from what i understand they were pretty much still in the road.
Please don’t drive impaired or speed ask the ones who should be on the roads to enforce the laws. laughable. In most developed countries you’d be too scared to drive impaired or speed because the fear of getting caught. Not here.
its a serious subject so i wont laugh at your silly comment. The other “developed” countries of the world have 100’s if not thousands of road fatalities every year, with 70% of them attributed to DUI. Why is this little island in the Caribbean always being compared to continents and how they are and what they do?
mature prudent people avoid being out on the roads at late hours. I feel sorry for people working shifts that are late and have to contend with all the childishness at those times.
Why is a breath test of 0.229% only a suspicion of DUI? Do the arresting officers not realize that is a hair away from 130% over the maximum legal limit?
CNS: It’s suspicion until it has been found otherwise by a court of law.
Until DUI is taken seriously by the law, these incidents and worse will never end.
CNS is spot on. You could hand yourself in to the detention centre with a sign on you saying “I ADMIT IT, I DID IT”, and you’re only arrested on suspicion of whatever it is.
To serve and protect the public, not least of which, getting ritually drunk and hourly aggressive people off the road, the RCIPS have to show up for task in appropriate deterrence numbers, and make the necessary arrests. The public should like to invite our Governor to issue these RCIPS gaslighters six months final performance review notice to either do this job properly, or vacate their positions. People are dying. How dare the Inspector Level Officer corps lecture the public on the job THEY ARE CHOOSING not to do.
Agree. Something you may not know is that RCIPS are not allowed to stake our liquor establishments and pull over those whose driving appears to be impaired. Decades ago, RCIPS would have a presence at least twice in the night of the bars and would often take the keys from an obviously drunk person who was trying to get in their car and drive home. I have friends on the force, and they are not permitted to watch for known offenders, nor watch bars at closing.
Come on new government. Make DUI a felony not a traffic offense. Do it NOW. RIGHT NOW.
You do know we dont have a Federal Government and therfore Felonies dont exist in Cayman?
see definition of felony ….has nothing to do with having a federal Govt.
And nothing to do with UK law.
one of them remains in critical condition with what appear to be non-life-threatening injuries.
I though life-threatening was the definition of critical.
Weak laws and a culture reluctant to address the DUI epidemic will result in more carnage.