Police say they have attended 61 motor vehicle accidents and made nine arrests for driving under the influence in the first five days of their annual Winter Guardian campaign.
The campaign, which kicked off on Monday, 16 Dec., involves what police have described as “intensified road enforcement operations”.
At the launch of the campaign, Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton said in a statement that, with 12 road fatalities so far this year, road safety was “once again a major part of the Holiday Safety Campaign”.
He said the Traffic and Roads Policing Unit is deploying increased speeding enforcements and traffic checkpoints at targeted locations, day and night, and that police are cracking down on speeding, driving under the influence and distracted driving – all of which are the main causes of collisions and traffic fatalities.
Walton noted that a little over a week before the road safety campaign began, there were two fatal collisions within hours of each other.
“This is a stark reminder of the importance we all must place on keeping our roads safe,” he said. “Our officers will continue targeted road enforcement, particularly during strategic times such as when social events will be coming to a close. But we are also encouraging all drivers and organisations to do their part.”
Police are urging people not to get behind the wheel of their cars if they drink, and if they are driving, particularly at night, to “be considerate of other road users, and obey the speed limits”.
One of the 61 crashes to which police responded occurred one day after the campaign launched, when two women, a man and a child required hospital treatment following a three-vehicle collision.
As a result of that collision on the night of Tuesday, 17 Dec., two of the drivers, a 29-year-old woman of George Town and a 40-year-old man of North Side, were arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Police said their initial investigations suggested that the driver of one of the vehicles was racing the driver of another car when the collision occurred.
Superintendent Richard Barrow, who oversees the eastern districts and the Sister Islands, described the crash as “disheartening to see” at the start of the police’s road safety campaign.
“An innocent child who was travelling in one of the vehicles is amongst those that received serious injuries due to the inconsiderate and reckless driving behavior of motorists,” he said in an RCIPS press release.
“Early investigations suggest that speed and likely alcohol, combined with racing, were factors that led to this collision,” he said. “In other words, this incident was completely avoidable. Instead of looking forward to Christmas, this child now has to deal with the trauma both mental and physical of being a victim of a serious road collision.”
Police say they are again supporting the National Drug Council’s Arrive Alive 345 campaign. This includes the Designated Driver Programme, an initiative among local restaurants to offer complimentary soft drinks to designated drivers.
Also, the Purple Ribbon Bus service will provides a free bus service on New Year’s Eve from 9pm to 4am for all districts on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Related Videos
