Bermuda Road Safety!

Even though the Happy Hours have begun, and even though Summer is almost here - now is the time to be more aware of drunk driving. Look out for your friends, your colleagues and your family. Help safe guard them, yourself and others against drunk driving.

This is a unique PSA from Australia asking you to slow down and enjoy the ride. With all the beautiful scenery in Bermuda, it’s pretty easy to do.

A member of the public caused an impaired driver on North Shore Road to pull over, then called Police to have them pick her up.

A Police spokesman said, “Around 5:55 pm on Tuesday, Police on mobile patrol responded to a report of an impaired driver on North Shore Road in Smith’s parish.

“It appears that a jeep was being driven erratically along North Shore Road near the junction with Jennings Road when it was caused to stop by a member of the public who called Police.”

“A second member of the public also assisted at the scene prior to Police arrival. As officers arrived they observed the driver, a 52-year-old Pembroke woman, displayed signs of being intoxicated.”

“She was subsequently arrested on suspicion of impaired driving and detained before being bailed. A court appearance is anticipated in the near future.”

Good job Bermuda - take a stand for making our roads safer!

How awesome is this billboard? It’s a holiday PSA (thus the guy’s Santa hat) from Russia. According to Copyranter, the headline reads, “It could be your body.” Pretty effective huh?

The Bermuda Sun reports that the Bermuda Road Safety Council is calling for in-bar breathalyzers to be “a priority” in a bid to reduce the number of accidents on our roads.

Coin-operated breathalyzers look set to be launched in Bermuda’s bars so drinkers can “take responsibility for their own actions”. It is hoped the machines will “increase alcohol awareness” on an island where “people are killing themselves”.

Wayne Perinchief, chairman of the Bermuda Road Safety Council, believes the breathalyzers will make our roads safer by helping people gauge how much they have had to drink “before it’s too late”. Do you think that bar-goers will use them and do you think they’ll be beneficial?

A few quick facts about in-bar breathalyzers:

* Bar owners in the U.S. have called them “one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in the bar”.
* They are regularly used in U.S. bars, with many people calling for taxis after seeing what their reading is.
* Some people do not realise they have to wait at least five minutes after they finish a drink before they can blow otherwise it will not be accurate.
* Manufacturers of in-bar breathalyzers guarantee accuracy by plus or minus .02, the difference of about one beer.
* The latest technology can calculate alcohol content within 10 seconds.
* The breathalyzers are only intended for awareness and information purposes. If someone questions whether they should drive, they should not.
* The reading cannot be used as legal evidence and machines keep no record of previous users’ alcohol levels.
* Machines tend to have a disclaimer saying results are not meant to be 100 per cent accurate and should not be relied upon for legal purposes.
* These types of breathalyzers are known to have been affected by other factors besides alcohol, such as smoking and mouthwash.
* Some U.S. lawyers say your alcohol limit can fluctuate once you have left a bar and these machines should be treated as “nothing more than a novelty device”.

The Royal Gazette reports that a drunk driver has been jailed for a year after knocking a teenager off his bike and leaving him with life-threatening injuries. Angela Ambrosini’s car veered across the road, hit a wall and ended up on top of 16-year-old Shakir Amory. She was more than two-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit at the time, after spending the afternoon and evening at a hotel. Mr Amory suffered a severe head injury that’s left him with what a prosecutor described as “intellectual deficit” and memory loss.

Ambrosini, 37, wept as the punishment was meted out after her lawyer unsuccessfully argued she should receive a non-custodial sentence. The marketing manager and voluntary worker apologised, and said: “I truly hope this message of my story can resonate in the community.”

The message is simply, don’t drink and drive. Not only do you potentionally destroy the lives of others, but you can destroy your own as well. The judge goes onto state, “There is really no need to take such a risk. It is likely to bring us to calamity, it is likely to bring innocent others to calamity,” he said.

Too harsh a sentence? Just enough? Or not enough? What do you think?

After an unfortunate road fatality rate for 2010, Transport Minister Terry Lister is seeking tougher drunk driving laws.

The Royal Gazette goes onto write:

“Bermuda’s drunk driving laws could be toughened up after the Island’s road death rate for 2010 put it on the verge of the international high-risk category, according to Transport Minister Terry Lister. Reflecting on the 13 people who lost their lives in accidents over the past 12 months, Mr Lister told The Royal Gazette: “I am very concerned about the number of road deaths last year.

“I believe we need to take stiffer measures with regard to drunk driving. Far too many of our road accidents are alcohol related and it is time for us to look seriously at this issue.”

The Minister said he would be “looking at the effectiveness of present legislation”.

Under the Road Traffic Act it is illegal to be in control of any vehicle with 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood; this usually incurs a fine of $1,000, year-long ban from driving and ten demerit points against the licence. Road safety campaigners and both Opposition parties yesterday said they hoped more would be done to crack down on drunk driving.

Victim support group ROLO, Remembering Our Loved Ones, member Melissa Looby, who lost six friends to road accidents in six years, said yesterday: “I believe Bermuda’s drunk driving problem is bigger than we as Bermudians would like to believe. Reviewing any and all laws that will help.”

Anthony Santucci, chairman of campaigners CADA, said: “We know that the vast majority of the deaths on our roads can be attributed to drugs and or alcohol.” Read the rest of the article here.

We now rank second highest in a list of road deaths for countries per 100,000 residents.

Hopefully 2011 will be a better year for Bermuda and Bermudians.

We all know that speeding and distracted driving are major problems in Bermuda so anything that can help to fight against it is fantastic. This is a great example of activisim meets technology. We all know that while listening to your music in the car, people have a tendency to drive too fast. This makes the risk of accidents much higher. A company called Happiness Brussels in Belgium created an app for OVK, (Belgium’s road safety council), that slows down your music when you drive too fast. That way you are reminded to slow down too, in order to avoid an accident. Download the app for free here to help us in the battle against speed demons and distracted drivers!

These were recently voted the most impactful road safety advertisements. Do you agree?

After the tradgic loss of Adam Goodwin the crew of the Oleander have painted a small tribute to honour him on the starboard hull of the container ship the Oleander. The tribute can be seen here as the container ship passed by Dockyard yesterday afternoon. Adam had previously worked on the Oleander and was killed in single motor vehicle accident last week becoming Bermuda’s tenth road fatality this year.

Also, the Goodwin family plans to set up a scholarship in his memory. The Adam Goodwin Scholarship will be given to young Bermudian sailors to help them see the world.

His father, David Goodwin, told the Bermuda Sun: “The idea of the scholarship came about when we looked at how many lives Adam had touched and read the amazing tributes that had been paid to him. Adam lived an incredible life and was starting to open other people’s eyes to what you can do and see if you want to. We want that work to carry on and that is where the scholarship would come in. It would be given to a young sailor who cannot afford to do some of the things Adam did, so they can pursue their dreams. We are working on the details but the commitment has been made and the Sloop Foundation is on board. Adam only had just received his first pay cheque from them, for work he felt may have an impact on his fellow Bermudian youth. The sharing of his knowledge gained at Australian Maritime College and the experience gained from his many sea passages. This is where he derived his passion and philosophy to follow a dream.”

Adam Goodwin was buried at sea last weekend just off Gurnet Rock near St. David’s.

Hundreds of mourners attended the service, held on the ocean, and a flotilla of dozens of boats gathered to celebrate the young sailor’s life.