Traffic clampdown ‘new normal’, says senior cop
(CNS): The RCIPS is continuing its traffic enforcement operations and last week caught dozens of drivers breaking the law. Eleven drunk drivers were arrested, eight of them this past weekend alone, and 66 drivers were ticketed for speeding. Having reformed and now fully staffed the traffic unit, the police said they intend to continue clamping down on road traffic infractions. “As we are well into the fifth month of 2018, we hope that it is clear to the public that this is the new normal for traffic enforcement,” said Inspector Ian Yearwood.
“We will continue to target and prosecute those who use the roads in an unsafe manner in order to deter others from doing so,” the senior officer added.
From Monday to Sunday, 7-13 May, in addition to the 66 speeding tickets, officers also issued 36 tickets to drivers who were using their mobile phones without the necessary hands-free equipment while behind the wheel. Another 36 motorists were given tickets for illegal tint on their vehicles.
Of the 36 drivers arrested over tint, one of them ended up facing a list of other charges after he drove off when police patrol officers tried to pull him over in the Grand Harbour area.
Police said the incident happened just before 7am Thursday, 10 May, when the officers who were on Shamrock Road saw a car travelling east with tint darker than the legal limit. The driver was signalled by the officers and pulled over, but drove off again as they approached. The car was intercepted close to Bimini Drive, and the driver was spoken to by officers.
The 28-year-old man from Bodden Town was unable to provide a driver’s licence and the officers determined that his licence had expired. As officers spoke with him, they also noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath, and he was breathalysed with a reading of 0.199%. As a result, he was arrested on suspicion of DUI and driving with an expired licence, in addition to the tint offence. He was later bailed.
Cayman is fortunate to have this tough Irishman as Chief. After the series of clowns you had lately, and the mind-boggling amount of crime on this little island, you need to give him some time to turn the ship around. The signs are good so far. The other thing you need is a tough no-nonsense chief prosecutor, but apparently the one you have stays until she decides to go.
We need a full regiment of police during the day pulling over the relentlessly speeding and jack-braking dump trucks, the heeled-over tourist buses, and unsecured loads of all kinds – including humans! The RCIPS haven’t even scratched the surface of the problem.
OK GUYS – 0.199% presents nausea and loss of consciousness?? Why don’t the police inform the public that they have now changed all the breathalyzer machines with public funds? Have the operators been trained correctly on these new machines? If this man had of been tested on the old breathalyzer machines (just thrown away) he would have blown a lot higher simply because these old machines never worked correctly and were not operated correctly…so replaced quickly as more is learnt…Remember the occasional 0.3 reading in the press…that’s respiratory failure..something is up here guys!!!
It would probably cause issues with using old readings in dui cases that are ongoing. I wonder why the results have never been challenged successfully if what you say is true. I don’t think they could have just thrown away the old machines., they must still be needed for evidence.
What’s this? Police promise to enforce the law! I give it two months before it’s back to normal – allowing offenders to rule the roads.
Wow! The reversal of another lousy decision previously made by former commissioner Baines. The staffing of the Traffic Unit should never have been reduced. Baines was a joke and has left nothing noteworthy behind, like several of his kind.
Come and look at the GT Police parking lot and write some illegal tint tickets.. oh right, I forgot they turn a blind eye on their own breaking laws.
I agree. I know two police officers right now whose tint is darker than Task Force truck. But nothing will come out of that.
10.25 am Get your facts right before you throw the stones. Designated police vehicles, I have been told, may have tinted windows for security and operational reasons. Did you think of asking? Typical uninformed CNS posting!
How about the failed genetic mosquitos…That the new norm too?
Everyone elses paradise but our own.
Is any of this going to filter over to Cayman Brac? The police here could pretty much eradicate drinking and driving within a month if they wanted to – every Friday and Saturday night stop multiple cars and breathalyze. Haul EVERY driver over the limit into court SPEEDILY and ensure the law is applied to everyone equally – drink driving means losing your license. It wouldn’t take more than a few people losing their license for most others to think twice and get some one to drop them off for their drinking sessions. Why is drinking and driving seen as so acceptable by the RCIPS (and therefore mostly everyone else) on the Brac???
linford pierson highway man! they using it as a race track again!?
Well done RCIPS – it will be a slow process but so worth the time and energy to make our roads safer for everyone. Keep the pressure on and uphold high driving standards.
Hello.
Can something be done about the illegal tint. There are so many vehicles here with illegal tint. They even have it on their front windshield.
I even see Police Officers with the tint. There is one in GT with a Honda that has it extreamly dark. I know one in Westbay, who works community relations with dark tint, even his wife’s car is super dark, and has it on her front windshield.
Start there then work your way out. How can the Police ticket others, when these same Officers have worse on their private motor vehicles.
I gonna take a picture next time and post it on the web. Maybe then they will ticket these Officers.
Ha ha 10.14 pm hurry up and do it and we will see how many quickly remove their illegal tint. No double standards!
Yeah, what about the RCIPS breaking the law – had one *officer* nearly run in the back of me, then admit he was speeding, then threatened me. #corruption.
Can you please stop and ticket the cars with the spike wheel nuts. I saw a black truck this week and the spikes must have been 8 inches long. They could take someone’s leg off !!!!!
Pretty sure his exhaust is illegal too.
The marl trucks with spikes too. Very dangerous.
let people submit dashcam footage for ticketing. problem solved.
Illegal tint isn’t a big deal. I am a business owner and an overall law abiding citizen, but I admit I have “illegal” tint (20%). It’s brutal driving or being stuck in traffic in 100 degree weather with no tint.
Sorry but it’s the law and it should be the same for EVERYONE!
nonsense.
I don’t have any window tinting and when I get too warm, I turn my AIR CONDITIONING on. No problem! And, I don’t need to feel “macho” or “mafioso” like some people.
Nice if your AC works.
You would need a hundred officers out 24/7 for the next year to overcome the years of no enforcement. Do what you do and don’t let up officers. Please don’t listen to all the many complainers. You are appreciated by all the law abiding people on the island.
What about the person who crashed into Savannah gas station over the weekend….sending the pumping station flying and a hole in the building??
And nothing in the news about it? Somebody’s family?
“We will continue to target and prosecute those who use the roads in an unsafe manner in order to deter others from doing so,” the senior officer added.
I sincerely hope then, that they start by stationing officers on the busy roundabouts and roads across the island from Shamrock Rd to WB from 6-9 am and 4 to 7 weekdays. From here they should pull over each and every driver disobeying the road code and/or travelling in vehicles that are not roadworthy. A much needed educational drive which I estimate could potentially cut MVAs by 50% or more.
Why is there no driver’s educational class in public schools? You can get your license here at the age of 17. Once again, does CIG need to be told what to do? You would think this would have been implemented a long time ago counting the amount of road fatalities we have on these small islands. The problem is that no body’s brother, cousin, or uncle will be making any money from that.
Good perhaps they can sort out the drivers who driver without lights on when dark – I passed at least three last night and they have the cheek to shrug their shoulders when you pull alongside them to tell them they have no lights on
Please start stopping those crazy truck drivers with their full loads going down from Caymana Bay to the new area next to the Kimpton and coming back the other way.Not all are doing this BUT can tell you they are foreign drivers with no idea of rules of the road.
Doing good Pete until this stupid comment “they are foreign drivers”. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHERE THEY ARE FROM. You have made your point invalid.
I downvoted because of that.
No one cares about your down vote! Its the truth. Peter is right, most of them are people from the neighboring island that bring their bad driving habits with them.
Maybe we could enact a law that ensures that any Honda Civics or Accords are automatically blown up when they get to be older than 5 years… or if they have any parts modified.
My current favourites are the clowns with flashing brake lights. Guys, you’re not racing down the Mulsanne Straight, you’re mostly stuck in traffic on Shamrock Road. Your cars are automatic too so it is super irritating, if you really want to use flashing lights, try the indicators.
Very few people know what an indicator is and 90% who do, don’t know how to use it. I had an SUV pull into my lane nearly hitting my front end and he/she only thought about putting turn signal on after they were half way into my lane already. They make their move and put their turn signal on as an afterthought ..having already pulled in front of someone or turned a corner.
Lame.
I’ll make sure it happens if you agree to become the free island taxi!!!
Spotted the flashing brake lights today on a public bus, blue one from EE. So I guess they are only fitted to racing vehicles.
Well done, good to know the basics are becoming the norm. Not sure how many thumbs up this will get but more effort should be placed on the muggings, theft, and breakins which have such a detrimental effect on society. I know the job is not easy so in summary, thank you for your service.
Theft, break ins and similar are facilitated by poor traffic enforcement. Tighten this, and scumbags are more likely to be caught in transit with stolen goods, drugs, guns etc.
Make the roads a priority.
‘Having reformed and now fully staffed the traffic unit.’ This is exactly the lesson the police in the UK learned abiut 20 years ago – disbanding dedicated traffic units is a dumb move. But then look at the man (thankfully no longer CoP!) who did it – what do you expect?
you would need to spend all 24 hours of the day out on the road ticketing and arresting those that drive illegally before you would actually put a dent into the problem, not enough officers on the road,
It’s funny how the buses aren’t stopped though…
And they’re the worst!
What does fully-staffed mean in terms of headcount? How many of our 400+ officers are working the Traffic Unit? Visible officers are a rare sighting, and are barely making a dent in the driving infractions and opportunistic crimes the public encounters every day.
10 beat officers, 2 sergeants and one inspector. Imagine what they could do with say 40 officers. Which of course raises the question – how many of those 400 are actually on operational duty and what do they actually do?
Proud of you guys!
Better that the police go out and catch the thieves and gangsters; traffic tickets only serve to make the crime figures look good.
Traffic offences are still a crime and a lot more people have died in road crashes than have been murdered here.
Better for you. Only.
otherwise known as doing your job………………………
hope you all figure out how to clamp down …. on cell phone usage while driving …
One way is to stop the illegal tinting.
hey guys, they start speeding again on linford pierson highway…so you need set speed radar up there again??? you all doing a great job!☺?
This is great news!! I passed 2 just this morning with illegal tint and another 4 with the plate distortion cover.
This list of who/why of ticketing should be posted each week! It would give us the illusion that something is being done!
I don’t think we need to name and shame. There’s enough of that on the marl road already. Stats and moreover visible policing are enough.
Higher fines and more consequences for offenses are needed!
No they are not. They just need to be handed out with consistency over time before the general public will engrain to the new normal and change their behavior…decades of human skepticism to overcome. Is $100 for every 5mph above speed limit really too lenient for you? A seatbelt infraction involves a big ticket plus a morning wasted in court. Let’s get some perspective.
Finally someone with some sense. The fines for speeding here are exuberantly high and possibly among the highest in the world. Setting higher fines will not solve the problem. More police presence and enforcing of existing traffic laws across the board will.
About time. I am so pleased to see the police back out and dealing with these issues. The new normal seems to be driving with only one plate (or, in an increasing number of instances, none). I see this every time I am out on the road. But I don’t see any reference to plates?
Keep up the good work RCIPS. Changes to behaviour don’t happen overnight and your continued presence can only be a positive thing for the community as a whole.
book’em dano!