Cayman Islands traffic stats show jump in speeding offenses and road deaths
Traffic Statistics for 2015 Show Spikes in Speeding Offences and Road Deaths
Traffic statistics for last year have been compiled, and show a jump in speeding offenses and road deaths. The number of citations issued for speeding nearly increased 79% over 2014, due to increased enforcement, yet the number of road fatalities was three times higher, at a total of 12 for the year.
“A number of factors contribute to this troubling statistic,” said Inspector Adrian Barnett, Head of the RCIPS Traffic Management Unit, “but the fact is that drinking and driving, speeding, and the general failure of drivers to pay adequate attention to what they’re doing continue to be the main causes of fatal accidents.”
In response to the rise in road accidents last year, senior management pooled resources from a reconfiguration of internal units as part of the recent shift change, and provided officers for dedicated duty to the Traffic Management Unit in order to increase traffic enforcement and investigation.
The overall number of traffic offenses stayed about the same in 2015, as did the number of total traffic accidents. However, the number of “total traffic accidents” in this statistical breakdown only refers to those accidents where a police constable attended; under Cayman legislation drivers involved in minor traffic accidents also may simply exchange insurance information without requiring the attendance of police. The total number of accidents for the year including this second type of accident (where an officer does not attend) is approximately 2,230.
The total number of citations for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) last year reflects a drop of over a third; however, these figures do not represent the number of DUI arrests but only DUI charges. Some cases for November and December 2015 are still pending, therefore the actual figures for DUI charges for these two months, which now stand at 6 and 8, respectively, will most likely increase. By way of indication, the number of DUI arrests in November and December were 26 and 36, respectively. An update on number of DUI charges for the last two months of the year will be shared when available.
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Traffic Stats.
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