Support for proposed changes to Cayman Islands traffic regulations appears strong among some groups government will be shopping its plans to in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, recent numbers from the police and the court system make an emphatic point in favour of those pushing what would be a major revision to current law.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service ticketed more than 100 people for speeding over a two week period in February. The bulk of those citations came in just four days on 17-18 February and 24-25 February.
‘It’s surprising to see 100 in that short a time,’ said RCIPS spokesperson Deborah Denis. ‘But this was a series of targeted operations, so we expected to catch more.’
The police department wrote 3,445 speeding tickets last year, which works out to an average of 66 tickets per week.
Magistrate Grace Donalds’ Wednesday traffic court saw a whopping 57 people on the docket, many for previous offences going back as far as 2002.
Nearly 40 per cent of the tickets issued to those defendants were for speeding, careless driving, or driving under the influence of alcohol. 50 per cent went to people who didn’t have driver’s licenses or motoring insurance; had expired registration; did not have vehicle roadworthiness certification; or to those who weren’t wearing seatbelts.
‘This (driving situation) is going to turn into something that we are not going to like in our country,’ said Works and Infrastructure Minister Arden McLean during a February media briefing.
Tougher regulations
Plans to toughen up the island’s traffic regulations include: more regulation on the importation of certain vehicles, and the possible prohibition of ‘modified’ vehicles on island roads; limits on when drivers can use cell phones; automatic disqualification of a driver’s licence for excessive speeding; and increased fines for speeding and other traffic offences.
The government also hopes to introduce a graduated licencing programme for young drivers by 1 July. The programme requires, among other things, for teenage drivers to clock a certain number of hours on the road with a trained instructor before receiving an unrestricted driver’s licence.
Ken Chand of Motor and General Insurance, said he believes the insurance industry will support many of the proposed regulations; including those dealing with drivers who talk on cell phones, and those prohibiting modified vehicles.
‘Police…have to be more diligent with some of the vehicles that are on the road,’ said Mr. Chand. ‘The majority of the lowered or chopped vehicles, we don’t write (insurance policies for) them. They’re just asking for trouble.’
Mr. Chand said that’s a policy for Motor and General only. He said he doubts every other insurance company on the island would play by the same rules.
‘The insurance companies will never agree,’ he said.
The MattSafe driver education committee actually petitioned the government earlier this year to enact the graduated licencing programme. The Legislative Assembly passed amendments to the Traffic Law which included the programme in March 2005, but those have never been put into effect.
Education Minister Alden McLaughlin has also promised to implement mandatory driver’s educations courses in public schools, but the specifics of that plan have not been worked out.
‘We’re very much focused on traffic education in the schools,’ said MattSafe Co-Chairman Wiekert Weber.
The group has not yet taken positions on some of the other proposals made by Mr. McLean
‘They are interesting topics that the Minister brought forward.’ Mr. Weber said. ‘Our goal is safety in driving, and obviously the use of cell phones in cars is something that’s of concern.’
Mr. McLean has said he hopes to have all the new traffic regulations in place this year. Some may only require the assent of Cabinet for adoption. If there are amendments to the current Traffic Law, those would need to be approved by the entire LA.
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‘Our goal is safety in driving, and obviously the use of cell phones in cars is something that’s of concern.’
– MattSafe Co-Chairman Wiekert Weber
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