From the Bermuda Sun...

Vexed Bermoothes also brings it up in his post about Bad management.

So let me get this straight. You go to court for a traffic offense. You're booked with say a $200 fine and 6 demerit points. And this info isn't punched into some program that manages everybody's driving info? And if someone wanted to check on how many points remained to them, they would have no easy method?

As for the reason why speed cameras, after maybe 4 years existing on the island, won't be around for at least two years because there's this backlog of outstanding fines? Sheesh.

Sorry UMBK... I agree 102% - just thought you didn't say it loud enough the first time... fixed it for ya sir!

SevenT

_{Whoops, screwed up the wrap... sorry!}

Hearing about Bermuda's traffic court was something that really showed me that it really is another world. A lovely Canadian colleague was caught doing almost 50 on the way to church. Rather than just pay a fine and get demerit points as it may be elsewhere, she was required to actually turn up in court. Then she had to wait her turn (I think it was done in alphabetical order or something) for most of the day to explain why she was late for church. Imagine the man-hours taken by this system. There is something to be said for on-the-spot fines for the minor transgressions.

Being a holiday, the police are out in force here to try to minimise holiday chaos. On my way back from buying groceries they were doing speed checks as well as stopping motorists for alcohol and drug tests. Because it is done fairly regularly, it really has made inroads into the number of people over the limit. I suspect that Bermuda needs the same - a regular chance of getting breathalysed would start to change people's thinking. I'm happy for some tax dollars to be spent giving police the resources they need to make this work. How would it be received in Bermuda?

Very good points... there really does have to be a willingness to allocate significant funding to tackle this properly. On the other hand, cutting out a few million from the travel budget would go a long way. It is not just Bermudians but expats in Bermuda who feel confident that they won't get caught... it seems that the possibility of accidents is ignored entirely. I guess everyone thinks it will happen to someone else.