Dangerous, not courteous

On Friday afternoon there was a serious four-vehicle pile-up on North Shore Road. According to the Royal Gazette:

The accident happened when the driver of a blue open-backed truck, travelling west, stopped to let a postman turn out of Idlewood Drive on his motorcycle onto North Shore Road.

A yellow flatbed truck crashed into the back of the blue truck, forcing it across the road and into the path of a white truck travelling east. The vehicles collided and a motorcyclist travelling behind the white truck also crashed and became trapped under the wheels of the white vehicle.

Stopping on a main road to let traffic out of a side road is considered a nice thing to do in Bermuda. Even police spokesman Dwayne Caines described the driver of the blue truck as "courteous".

I have always thought the practice is dangerous, particularly given the prevalance of tailgating here. This accident illustrates why.

Comments

[Amin Swan on 12.03.06 at 22:05]

I guess I'll go first here..From the perspective of a Bermudian living in America, the "dream" of courteous drivers is always dancing in my head. Here in Atlanta, you dare not indicate that you would like to switch lanes because the driver in other lane and the one behind them and so on would purposely speed up with the "your not getting in front of me" mentality. It's madness to drive on the freeway's here. I find it very refreshing to come home to Bermuda and see relatively couteous driving, trust me, the courteous driving you see in Bermuda is not a bad thing, so as long as people pay more attention while driving and not on cell phones or looking at who they know coming in the other direction.

[YoungRider on 12.03.06 at 22:23]

Personally I have been in an accident when someone was being 'polite' and tried to let someone out of a driveway. The car who stopped did so and the car that was trying to get out simply pulled out without looking in my direction. I was seriously injured and had to spend the night in the hospital, i recieved 3rd degree burns and am now scared for life out of one persons 'politeness'. Never again will i stop to let someone pull out of a driveway, people get injured all the time out of this idiotic practice and personally i believe it should be made illegal to stop and let someone out. How much longer will that person have to wait? 10, 15 seconds, that is all. But yet in the last 2? weeks we have had a death and a serious accident out of this, waiting 15 seconds and peoples lives would not have been changed forever. Bermuda wake up, being 'polite' is ruining lives. It may seem innocent to you now..but wait till you see your son or loved one in the hopsital out of one persons kindness..im sure it will change your mind.

[Andrew on 12.03.06 at 22:50]

My girlfriend came off her bike in a roundabout when a "courteous" driver slammed on the brakes in the middle of the roundabout to let someone enter.

[Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 12.03.06 at 22:54]

I always thought it unwise to stop on a major road to let someone out of a minor road because it interrupts traffic flow. It is ok, in my opinon, to do it if traffic happens to have been caused to slow down for some reason as people behind are more likely paying closer attention to the traffic in front of them when this occurs. But to stop suddenly in traffic flow to be courteous....?

But Limey, if you think it is bad in Bermuda try driving in the Nassau, the Bahamas. Stop signs here simply mean yield and if the driver believes he can get out of the stop sign before you reach it he will do so with not concern whatsoever. The speed limit here is generally 45mph and it is not at all unusal for the car in front of you to come to a quick stop to let someone onto a major road, especially when traffic is heavy.

All in all I guess Bermuda is not all that bad, especially if one drives within the 20mph speed limit and keeps a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

[Amin Swan on 12.03.06 at 23:23]

Young rider,

I disagree - I think it all boils down to following the law.

1. Following the speed limit
2. Following at an appropriate distance

From what I understand the recent accident where the gentleman was killed was due to someone turning INTO a driveway not coming out of. With this said, the northshore accident could have happened whether someone was turning into a drive way from the main road or whether someone from the main road slowed to let someone out. Drivers in Bermuda have simply GOT to follow the rules of the road closely. Accidents will happen, but many can be avoided.

[YoungRider on 13.03.06 at 00:12]

Courteous or not it is dangerous. As Guilden said it should not happen when driving without traffic, when driving slowly (in traffic) there is little risk (except for drivers coming the other way). But people seem to just randomly stop to let someone out, I dont and never will understand this. The speed at which people travel is a major concern, people say that the speed limit should be raised but why not lower it? At 20kmh there would be less than half of the accidents we currently have. Whilst this is an extreme, why not simply ENFORCE the 35kmh speed limit? Anyone caught going over 50kmh (and not 70k as it is now) should go off the road, and not for one year but two or more. Speeding tickets that range from 35-50k should be WAY bigger than the 200-300 dollar range that 50-70kmh tickets get. Fine people $1000 and watch the people slow down when they realize that it is not a joke. Something needs to get done, FAST!

[Marcus on 13.03.06 at 05:06]

So if someone stops suddenly it's their fault if you crash into the back of them?

Isn't it if you crash into the back of someone it's automatically your fault (it is in the UK at least), aren't you're supposed to leave enough room in front of you to stop?

Although it's must be irritating to have people stop in front of you isn't it your responsibility to make sure you can stop?

YoungRider

So you saw the car on the other side of the road slow down and stop and you saw a car coming out of his or her drive, cross the other lane and join your lane and in all this time you didn't slow down, beep your horn or take any other action to avoid this? Bearing in mind
that you were going about 50kph? The car should have looked but you need to take some responsibility for the accident. You're on a vehicle that is very vulnerable and cage drivers are stupid and don't look. You need to forward plan much more.

In case you're wondering yes I ride, I've had several advanced courses (one with a ex UK police trainer). I've had one accident that was completely my fault and a few where I could have done something different to avoid the accident, over the 10 years I've been riding.

However I'm very sorry that you were as badly hurt as you were.

[Andrew on 13.03.06 at 07:59]

I heard that the recent fatality was a result of the cycle rider not being able to stop in time when the cars in fron stopped to allow someone to turn off the road.

I also heard that his delayed reaction and inability to stop was related to the fact that he had both hands off the handlebars lighting a smoke. I'm not sure if that is truth or just rumours.

[Bill Cook on 13.03.06 at 08:17]

Most accidents are caused by careless driving not because of courtesy generally speaking.

Every day esp between the hours of 7am and 9am during the period going to work, is worst.

If everyone cooperates and drives within speed limits things would go smoothly but it does require keeping alert not talking on cell phones and driving too close to the car in front.

Some drivers attemptr to enter the main road without signalling which direction they are going and the greatest danger comes with crossing the opposite side of road from their driveway.

Cycle riders pass other cars on the outside and often dont see the car being let out of the driveway which is dangerous.

In the final analysis it mostly boils down to lack of care and certain stretches such as from Warwick workmans club to Triminham roundabout is especially busy.

[sandgrownan on 13.03.06 at 08:42]

Letting people out of side roads, stopping on roundabouts and all the other retarded things we see (and do!) interrupt traffic flow and antagonise everyone behind. The real problem, however, is that folks here drives way too close way too fast. That's why an action that might seem courteous is dangerous.

The North Shore pile up although precipitated by an idiot, was compounded by idiots driving too close, too fast and presumably, not paying attention.

[deathwish on 13.03.06 at 09:04]

When I am thinking of turning onto a major road from a minor one, I know people will be courteous and let me in. Therefore I don't bother to stop, or even slow down, when approaching the major road until half my bike or car is poked out onto the road.

When others are waiting to turn, I slam on my brakes despite the fact that if I continued to drive at my present speed I pass them, allowing them to turn onto the road much quicker than if I stop, plus there would be no danger of being rear-ended.

When driving my scooter, I like to pass on blind corners. If an oncomming car is approaching I know someone in my lane will let me in because they can see I don't have my helmet strapped properly to accommodate my hair/cell phone.

I rely on the courtesy of strangers when walking too. That's why I never use crosswalks, particularly on Queen Street. Crosswalks on court street--fuggedaboutit!

Of course my personal courtesy only extends so far. If a pedestrian is walking, especially if in the crosswalk, they are as dead as the dodo when I'm driving by.

[Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 13.03.06 at 09:10]

Marcus,

"Isn't it if you crash into the back of someone it's automatically your fault (it is in the UK at least), aren't you're supposed to leave enough room in front of you to stop?"

You are absolutely right, however, there should also be some fault resting with the driver who stops suddenly without warning, especially if the sudden stop is unnecessary. (if a child runs into the road, for example, a sudden stop is necessary) Even if an accident is avoided because the person behind is paying attention, injury in the vehicle could stil occur. Imagine a child in a car seat is a car that must suddenly stop due to the actions of the car in front. This in and of itself could cause injury to this child even while in the car seat.

People simply need to be more courteous to those who are with them in traffic than they are to those trying to enter the traffic flow.

I understand the difficulty one has of entering traffic flow from a minor road during rush hour, however, if someone is going to stop they need to gradually slow to a halt not stop suddenly.

[ace on 13.03.06 at 09:42]

"Isn't it if you crash into the back of someone it's automatically your fault (it is in the UK at least), aren't you're supposed to leave enough room in front of you to stop?"

Well...you'd "think" that is the case, but I didn't read anything in YoungRider's post that says he was charged with any traffic violation. I myself was travelling along front steet about a year ago when a van in front of me decided at the very last second to allow someone into traffic. I broke a finger and lost the nail on that finger after I hit it. I was not charged with any sort of traffic offense.

[Adjustah on 13.03.06 at 10:04]

Let's not confuse "courteous" with "Safe" here guys. You can be both a courteous AND safe driver, or you can be courteous and still be a bonehead.

Also,the term is 'Driving Without Due Care And Attention", so if you are travelling too close to the vehicle IN FRONT of you, at a speed which negates you stopping in time to avoid hitting them should they stop unexpectedly, then guess what? Driving without due care you were, young grass-hopper.

However, being hit from behind soes not automatically mean a due care charge for the driver of the second vehicle. In fact it can be the driver of the vehicle in front who can be charged. If you stop sharply on a blind corner to let someone out, then odds are you may need to visit your insurer in the morning.

The theory is that you should be competent enough behind the wheel to be aware of your surroundings and drive with all due care and attention. The other theory is that the police and or TAI should be able to make that call based upon the facts of each induvidual accident.

I agree with Bill Cook, most accidents are caused by careless driving, not courteous drivers. YoungRider, just out of curiosity, was anyone charged as a result of your accident?

[VB on 13.03.06 at 10:50]

Has nobody ever heard of the '2 second' rule? No matter the speed follow at least 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you.

In Bermuda that 2 second space seems to be an invitation for the guy behind to fill it. Courtesy extends both ways.

In Bermuda eye contact is important when courtesy is being extended or recieved since signaling is almost unheard of. Sometimes you get a flash of the lights so fast that you might think a picture is being taken instead of holding them on & being sure that they are seen. I seldom complete even the shortest of trips without extending a courtesy to somebody.

There are some who get nothing If the driver is hidden behind tinted glass & can't be seen he can stay in that driveway till next week for all I care. If I see somebody trying to ride in my backseat, I find an imaginary cat or something a good reason to give the breaks a good slam. If you are that cyclist who rides the 'third' lane & thinks that I am going to risk hitting a wall to make room for you as you overtake, think again. I drive a vehicle that weighs over a ton. Bike & rider are only a few hundred pounds. Who is going to KEMH, or worse?

Surely the many Bermudians who rent vehicles overseas do not drive a rental in the idiotic manner that they drive their own vehicles here. We seldom here of Bermudians being involved in crashes anywhere else. Bermudians really do know better. There is just know police activity to enforce the laws & we all know it.

I was in Toronto last October during a police 'work to rule' i.e. they were attending crashes but not doing patrols. I can't say I saw any appreciable higher speeds or carelessness on the highways from any other visit.

Imagine what Bermuda would be like in a similar situation. Scary thought.

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 11:14]

Courtesy often gets trumped by stupidity in Bermuda. It's one thing to let someone out of the parking lot at the Flag Pole when traffic's stop and go and creeping along at 2 mph. It's a whole other thing to hit the brakes on a main road without making sure those behind have time to slow down safely.

Isn't it ironic that we discuss lack of enforcement, tinted windows and speed cameras and even rental trucks all in at the same time that we have people getting killed and injured because of irresponsible driving habits.

So what we have to look forward to is more semi-qualified drivers renting trucks creating more blind spots and traffic havoc. I'd forget about the speed cameras and instead put dash cams on all trucks, buses, taxis and any other form of public sponsored vehicle. Not only will you help catch the morons driving in front but you'll catch the one's behind the camera as well.

[Fen on 13.03.06 at 13:00]

My mother, bless her heart, is a big believer in being polite and letting people in when they are waiting to turn onto the main road. I am not so polite, and I see this courtesy as dangerous as it creates erratic behaviour on the part of the driver. (Obviously there are exceptions, and letting people in when traffic is slow and built up is a nice thing to do.)

Given it is such common behaviour, should we just add it to our acknowledged Bermudian driving hazards, after wet roads, horse & carts and toads?

We do need to become better drivers. I would like to make it common practice to observe the 2 second rule (4 seconds in wet conditions). Maybe put people who repeatedly ignore it in the stocks. I would also like to get Bermudians to chill out and slow down. When I was sixteen and going into town, I would have to be going as fast as I could to get there (within the unofficial speed limits, of course). If there was a car going just a couple of miles slower than me, I would overtake it. Then I realised that all my rushing to town had gotten me there a full 2 minutes before the slightly slower car I had overtaken at the start of my journey. Utterly pointless on an island our size.

[Raptor on 13.03.06 at 13:14]

The two-second rule is just part of a general rule that says you should allow one second between cars for every 10 mph of speed. And if the road is wet, you can almost double that for safe stopping. If you've got drivers going 30 mph to 40 mph or higher, two seconds is not going to work.

[Marcus on 13.03.06 at 13:44]

The way I was taught was to say "only a fool break the 2 second rule" and that takes about 2 seconds to say.

As raptor and other people mentioned say it twice in the rain.

[Joseph Froncioni on 13.03.06 at 15:54]

“…I have always thought the practice is dangerous, particularly given the prevalence (sic) of tailgating here. This accident illustrates why.”

Limey, I’ve always admired your clear thinking, which is why I was taken aback by the twisted logic of your statement about the crash in question. If anything is illustrated here, it’s the dangerous practice of tailgating. I’ve added your statement to my growing collection of doozies used to explain some recent high speed crashes e.g. “that’s a dangerous corner” or “that stretch of road is a deathtrap”. Don’t get me wrong; I also feel that sudden “courtesy” stops are a pain in the butt. However, there is NO excuse speeding, tailgating and inattention, by far the most common contributing factors to crashes in Bermuda.

[Joseph Froncioni on 13.03.06 at 15:57]

(Limey, my spell check seems to have corrected the incorrect spelling I pointed out in my post...)

[NoVote on 13.03.06 at 17:01]

There is a reason why we have a highway code. It's so that drivers can navigate the road system with reasonable expectations about how other road users will behave in various circumstances.

Because of these expectations about other people's driving behaviour it is possible to travel by road at reasonable speed (and I mean within the legal speed limit) with comparatively low risk.

When people contravene the highway code, however, the risk associated with road travel increases. This is because the road conditions that other drivers face are not within the bounds of their expectations and therefore not consistent with the posture that they assume on the road.

For example, if you could not rely upon other drivers to stay on the left hand side of the road, you'd probably navigate the roads in a considerably more defensive manner than most people actually do!

It is therefore dangerous for so-called courteous driving habits to persist.

If nobody around you on a road is expecting you to stop suddenly or on a blind-bend on a major road, then in all likelihood they won't adjust their driving posture accordingly.

This increases the chances of an accident occurring.

In my view the trade-off between the increased risk and the cozey feeling that is derived from supposed courtesy simply isn't worth it.

I'd rather see people follow the highway code rigorously, and I'm confident that we'd all be better off.

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 17:07]

"It is therefore dangerous for so-called courteous driving habits to persist."

I have no problem with courteous driving habits. I have a problem with "overly" courteous that borders on just insanely dumb. Sometimes it's better to just think before you stop.

[sandgrownan on 13.03.06 at 17:13]

dumb behaviour on our roads is all too common. I saw a women let her child (her child for God's sake) jump out of a car into the road, not the sidewalk. dumb dumb dumb.

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 17:17]

Perfect candidate for the dash cam stupidity ticket that comes in the mail. If you don't pay the fine within 21 days it goes up on the web-site for a month.

[NoVote on 13.03.06 at 17:35]

SG - It's perfectly possible to be courteous within the bounds of the highway code.

I'd advocate that.

Stopping unnecessarily on a main road; waving people out of junctions, when happens to be okay from your perspective....but damn right lethal from many others; beckoning small children to cross the road in-front of a bus...just because the bus happens to have stopped! etc: these I would not advocate.

And unfortunately I see examples of them every day.

[Joseph Froncioni on 13.03.06 at 17:40]

NoVote, there is also a reason why “defensive driving” is the mind-set of all good drivers. Expect the unexpected. You need to expand your realm of “reasonable expectations” about other road users to include bad road behavior. Sudden courtesy stops pose no problem to experienced defensive drivers.

[NoVote on 13.03.06 at 17:46]

Dr Froncioni,

Personally my realm of reasonable expectations does include the dopey things that I see in Bermuda and I drive accordingly.

However, every day I find myself marvelling at the extent to which I have to extend these expectations to cover scenarios that could easily be avoided, offer no great benefit and significantly increase risk.

And this is after 20 years of driving all over the world including several years on our curious little rock.

Frankly, I find your comments patronising and given your advocacy of road saftey practices rather hard to reconcile.

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 17:52]

"Sudden courtesy stops pose no problem to experienced defensive drivers." - Joseph Froncioni

Actually they make for a more exhilerating drive. Much like a cow crossing a country lane whilst heading out for a picnic in a two-seater Morgan in Somerset, England.

[Crash on 13.03.06 at 18:04]

Perhaps we should put sign posts up around the Island for the benefit of all those inexperienced drivers.

Something along the lines of:

"Watch out! Dopey Bermuda Drivers. You'll never guess what they're gonna do next. Be ready for whatever."

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 18:15]

Or 6" high bumper stickers that say "IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU ARE TOO CLOSE".

[NoVote on 13.03.06 at 18:21]

sandgrownan - I guess that she must have been a disgruntled Darwin award wannabe....living vicariously through her child......poor child!

[WyrdSister on 13.03.06 at 18:42]

I have a perfect example of the poor driving that goes on every day. This happened to me 20 minutes ago by Warwick Academy. A taxi T1689 pulled onto Middle Rd right in front of me forcing me to brake. If Ihad been travelling faster, or if I had one of our lovely tailgaters there would have been an accident.

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 18:51]

"I have a perfect example of the poor driving that goes on every day. This happened to me 20 minutes ago by Warwick Academy."

Hmmmm.... I think blogging on Limey whilst driving is also a rather bad habit. ;)

[Amin Swan on 13.03.06 at 18:56]

Smoking Gun,

Cute...very Cute. :)

[WyrdSister on 13.03.06 at 19:00]

Damn, I thought I could check LIB, have a cup of coffee and read the paper, and have a little chat on the phone while driving. :D

[YoungRider on 13.03.06 at 19:30]

Yes, someone was charged when I had my accident...ME! They made up a whole bunch of bogus charges (all of which have subsequently been dropped..except one (due care). Ive spoken to numerous police officers, and called the police station etc. and EVERY person i have spoken to has told me it was not my fault, and that the person who enters a major road from a minor road is at fault. There was a slight incline right before the gate at which the car pulled out, therefore i could not see the car stopped or the car pulling out. The driveway actually faces slightly in the direction i was traveling so it makes the driveway somewhat blind to traffic in my direction. The car pulled out (and told my parents they didnt look in my direction at the hospital!) and when they saw me jammed on brakes. There was now two cars blocking the entire road. I had slammed on my brakes and went into the side of the car pulling out. To me the driver who pulled out is at fault, you might think otherwise but the police have told me it was not my fault but yet i have still been charged. The case has now been put off for over a year and ive paid ridiculous amounts in lawyer fees in going to court to hear the prosecutors tell me some lame excuse as to why they arn't prepared. What a waste of my time!

Hope this isn't to confusing for you./

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 19:45]

YoungRider - I'd suggest you take your case to Randy Horton, Minister of Public Safety, but I don't know if you'd get much help.

Sorry Stuart... it was just sitting there.... ;)

[Adjustah on 13.03.06 at 20:05]

No, makes sense, and sadly this is not something new. One car stopped, the other car came out, you came around the corner and found both lanes blocked by both vehicles, correct?

I hate to tell you, but if you've been charged with Due Care, then the attending officer thinks you at least contributed to the accident. Was the other person exiting the driveway charged? That's really your only recourse - proving that they acted unreasonably in interrupting the flow of traffic by entering without care.

Did a TAI attend? You're lucky in that an (blue book) injury means more of a police report than the usual "incident report" phone list. Did they measure/ reconstruct the scene? Did they use speed/skid tables? How far did your bike penetrate the side of the exiting vehicle? Did you 'taco' the front wheel, or did the forks go?

Sounds like a nasty accident. You're fortunate to still be in one piece, believe me.

[YoungRider on 13.03.06 at 20:59]

Sorry Adjustah what is a TAI? The accident was reconstructed but with the skidmark they measured (and through an expert witness who reconstructed the accident for me/my lawyer) i was told there was no way i could have stayed 'upright' without sliding out. I cannot remember how i hit the car but i believe I hit it side on/the front wheel first. The forks got bent etc. I don't know the extent of the damage to the car etc but i know i broke the drivers side window. The driver of the car who pulled out was not charged with anything (I was charged with 7!). I think they just saw me as a teenager and put the blame square on me, what irritates me more is if I am found not guilty of due care the driver cannot be charged as it has been more than 7 months since the accident. Ive never had a speeding ticket, and have never even been pulled over! I obey the rules of the road as i have seen to many dumb things happen to do otherwise. My first 'run in' with the police has been a nightmare, no wonder many people do not respect them anymore.

[SmokingGun on 13.03.06 at 21:18]

YoungRider - it does sound a little bit like you are the scapegoat here. I was being serious in that it couldn't hurt to take your case to Randy Horton. As I said it may not get you anywhere but you should run it by your lawyer. The fact that you survived is the most important thing but you were injured so the issue will be what can you do to get compensation if found not at fault. Could that be part of the reasoning as to why things are still tied up in court with the other parties? I can't imagine time would have an effect based on the fact that the case is still open.

[YoungRider on 13.03.06 at 22:08]

SmokingGun, I think ive been to court 3 times now (after pleading not guilty to the charges) and each time the prosecution has had an excuse and put the court date off. The accident happened before last summer, and my next court date is in the middle of this summer! Legal fees have cost me double what I would have had to pay if i pled guilty to the charges in the first place.

The reason they charged me with due care is the simple reason they 'said' i was speeding. I can tell you i was not traveling at 35k but cannot tell you the actual speed at which i was traveling. Ive been told that no matter what my speed if the car pulled out onto a major road (without looking) the accident should legally be their fault. I dont know Bermuda laws well enough to know if this is true of not so if anybody knows the answer to this can they let me know. Sorry for hijacking the post!

[Phil on 13.03.06 at 22:55]

Joe

I agree that speeding, tailgating and inattention contribute to more accidents than courtesy stops. I agree that the latter should pose no problem to experienced defensive drivers. In 99 cases out of 100 if you hit the vehicle in front, you are the one at fault.

But to my mind, who is to blame for an accident is less important than the fact that the accident occurred. Courtesy stops are dangerous precisely because many people don't drive defensively. So if our aim is to reduce accidents, by all means let's encourage defensive driving and educate people about the dangers of tailgating. But let's explain why courtesy stops are dangerous too.

[Andrew on 13.03.06 at 23:19]

I'm not free of sin, but I'm accident free in 18 months of scooter riding - a record, I'm told.

My secret? I only overtake on clear stretches of road with no oncoming traffic. I try not to drive over 40km/h. I follow 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front - more if it is raining. I don't answer my cell phone when I'm on the bike, and I keep both hands on the bike and my feet on the deck. I don't stop in traffic to let someone enter the roadway, unless I'm already stopped in a line of traffic that is barely moving. I drive predictably, avoiding sudden stops and the like. I use my indicators to signal my intent. I drive defensively, expecting idiots everywhere I look. I keep an eye on my mirrors. If I'm stopping, I keep an eye on the mirror for tailgaters failing to stop. It has prevented an accident several times. If I'm turning right, I check for morons overtaking the line of traffic to make sure I don't get "t-boned" when I turn. I learned this trick the hard way, narrowly avoiding an accident with a third-lane rider traveling at a high rate of speed. When I approach a blind corner, I don't lay on the horn - I actually slow down and keep my stopping distance within my field of vision.

I am frequently amazed at the death-defying maneuvers that I see daily. I realized early that aggressive driving shaves a maximum of 2 minutes on a lengthy trip. Relaxing and taking my time adds little to the duration of the journey but it removes a hell of a lot of stress from my life.

Now that I've ranted about driving habits, how about stirring up a little discussion about the design of the roadways and the impact that road design has on traffic collisions and injuries? Lack of pedestrian sidewalks, blind corners, narrow lanes, sharp bends, etc, etc.

[Phil on 13.03.06 at 23:36]

Andrew

Now that I've ranted about driving habits, how about stirring up a little discussion about the design of the roadways and the impact that road design has on traffic collisions and injuries? Lack of pedestrian sidewalks, blind corners, narrow lanes, sharp bends, etc, etc.

Have a look here. I'd like to keep this thread focused specifically on the courtesy stops issue.

[observor on 14.03.06 at 10:11]

YoungRider

I empathize with your unfortunate court room (or lack thereof) experiences. My situation was slightly different in that the person who I hit was charged by the police with driving without due cure and attention (he similarly pulled out into a main road without looking).

The case was delayed by the prosecution no less than five times over the course of 18 months. Finally, when it went to trial, the key witness wasn’t available. Hardly surprising when considering she had taken time off work the prior four occasions – only to have the case delayed each time.

However, what was most upsetting about the prosecution experience was his complete absence of preparation compounded by a readily apparent lack of procedural understanding. This guy was supposed to be representing the crown but didn’t have a clue as to the correct way to present his case.

Now, I’ll readily admit that I’m not a lawyer (although I do have a sincere appreciation for Rumpole) but I was accompanied by a highly respected legal beagle so my observations are both informed and from a very well versed source. He was absolutely astounded at the prosecutor’s absolute uselessness. Predictably the defendant was found not guilty, in no small way as a result of the prosecutor’s incompetence.

Perhaps the saddest outcome of this entire farce was that this very same prosecutor is now, believe it or not, our Attorney General. Quo Fata Ferunt is right ….

[Tiger Bay on 14.03.06 at 10:56]

The real issue is speed and tailgating. It used to be that virtually all road injuries in Bermuda were on bikes; now we have have serious injuries and even deaths in cars and trucks.

[sandgrownan on 14.03.06 at 13:15]

The real problem is that there has been too much tolerance for bad driving habits for too long. There needs to be a no-tolerance blitz on every single aspect of road behaviour and stinging instant fines. None of this bollocks about a court date except for the more serious offenses.

On Friday night, around midnight/1 a.m. I saw a blonde woman in a blue Mitsibushi SUV negotiate the little lane between Par La Ville and Bermuidia Road, the WRONG WAY, while talking on her cell phone. As my friends and I shouted at her she sped off and ran a red light, turning left on to Front Street. Why did this brain dead, poor example of a member of the human race feel it was acceptable to drive in such a manner?

[SmokingGun on 14.03.06 at 13:33]

"ANYONE, travelling in the “third lane” with a child on the back should be charged with child endangerment and taken off the roads. The children today have learned from you, the adults. I challenge everyone to teach by example.
Slow down and be careful."
MI DESILVA
Paget

This was in today's RG's letters to the editor. This is a great example of stupid parent tricks deserving of a very fat fine.

[ace on 14.03.06 at 14:31]

Frankly the roads are so darn clogged up with cars no-one would get anywhere if bikes didn't make that third lane, PARTICULARLY in the morning.