Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan is reluctant to say that some motorists are driving at suicidal speeds.
So we’ll say it for him.
Some motorists are driving at suicidal speeds and putting the lives of others in danger as well.
Sometimes we feel like a broken record when we are compelled to write yet another editorial about bad driving.
But we don’t know what else to do until the practice stops.
Why are there so many bad drivers in the Cayman Islands?
It’s ridiculous that in the third quarter of this year the police department detected 2,436 traffic offences, a 124 per cent increase from the third quarter of 2005.
Even worse, fatal accidents have more than doubled from five the first nine months of 2005 to 11 so far this year.
Notice we said so far.
We’ve got two months and a few days left in this year.
The holiday season is knocking on the door, which means there will be an increase in social activities, which means there will likely be more drunks behind the wheel. That’s a sure combination to ensure the death toll on our roads will increase before the lights are turned out on this year.
Many of the offenders are young people driving souped up cars. If someone’s car looks like it’s been fitted to be a race car, they’re probably driving it at racing speeds.
One way to stop the problem is for mandatory confiscation of automobiles when drivers are caught racing.
Lord knows the police force could probably use some extra vehicles, especially ones that have been modified for speed.
It’s apparent that ticketing isn’t working.
A middle-aged Caymanian woman told the Commissioner that speeding is in Caymanians’ blood; that there is a need for speed.
Is she right?
We don’t remember having such a bad speeding problem as recently as 10 years ago.
And don’t blame it on the increase in the number of people on Grand Cayman.
If you’re a driver, mind your own driving. If we all pay attention and slow down we can help make Grand Cayman a safer place to drive.
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