Splash and run drivers warned

Motorists who drive through puddles and splash pedestrians have been warned they risk being charged with a traffic offense. 

With frequent storms hammering Grand Cayman in recent weeks, giant puddles are causing a minor hazard for motorists – and a nuisance for pedestrians. 

Police are urging drivers to proceed with caution after heavy rain and to avoid soaking people walking by the roadside. 

Chief Inspector Raymond Christian said anyone who drives through a puddle at speed and splashes a pedestrian could be charged with “inconsiderate driving” under the Traffic Law. 

The law, which came into force in 2012, lists “driving through a puddle causing pedestrians to be splashed” among a list of offenses defined as inconsiderate driving. Anyone convicted of that offense could face a fine of up to $1,000, six months in prison, or be disqualified from driving for a year, the law states. 

Mr. Christian could not say if anyone had been fined for splashing since the law was passed. 

But he said anyone who had been splashed could take down the registration number and report the incident to police. 

“If you see pedestrians walking near the roads and you are driving through a puddle, you should slow down and avoid splashing them. It is inconsiderate driving, it is an offense under the traffic law,” he said. 

In March, in the United Kingdom, a motorist was banned from the road and fined £500 (CI$688) after he drove through a puddle, splashing a mother and her two children.  

British newspaper The Daily Mail has previously reported on a trend called “happy splashing,” involving motorists filming themselves driving through puddles at speed to splash pedestrians. 

In Cayman in recent days there has been no shortage of rain-filled puddles.  

A tropical wave passed through the island on Sunday, bringing heavy rain on Sunday night and Monday morning, said Cayman Islands Weather Service forecaster Avalon Porter. 

Mr. Porter said the island recorded 0.33 inches of rainfall overnight and that another tropical wave was expected to pass on Wednesday afternoon. 

However, while storms and wet weather are common this time of year, the local weather service is predicting below normal rainfall in the Caribbean climate outlook for July to September. 

The outlook records July and August as the start of wet season, usually with a drier month or “mid-summer” drought, with increasing frequency and intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes. 

September is the wetter month, recording the most frequent tropical storms and hurricanes. 

“This is kind of normal for summer, although we predicted a lower than normal rainfall for this summer,” Mr. Porter said. 

“What we have been noticing with rainfall is that the rainfall is heavier but for shorter periods of time, and is not as frequent,” he added.