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It seems that Ewart Brown has decided that something must be done to reduce traffic congestion on the Island.

He spent eight years as Minister of Transport, but suddenly after eight days as Premier there's a crisis? This from the man who allowed vehicle sizes to increase to the point where we now have SUVs so wide that they literally cannot fit on their own side of the road.

Well I disagree. Bermuda's roads are NOT congested.

Sure, Hamilton is a mess most days, but elsewhere traffic flows very nicely thank you - with one exception.

Nothing congests an open road faster than some misguided pedant who is actually trying to drive at the speed limit.

In no time at all these poor deluded individuals have a line of vehicles trapped behind them.

Vehicles that were happily travelling on a clear road until they met up with the moving bottleneck of the dreaded "law abiding citizen".

Most of us get caught in one of these frustrating mobile traffic jams several times a week.

But if you haven't, look in your rear view mirror, there's probably one right behind you.

We need to change the law so that these quaint old folks can be free to join the rest of us in the twenty-first century, travelling at faster, yet perfectly safe speeds.

Let's be realistic, a speed limit of 35 kph is like a corset: somewhat outmoded, still useful (even preferred) in certain locales, but hardly appropriate everywhere.

In most of Bermuda today we need something more like a teddy - providing adequate protection yet permitting greater freedom of movement.

And we'd still need enforcement so maybe some thigh-high leather boots and a small velvet whip … Sorry … Where was I? Oh yes …

What was with that ridiculous Police Crackdown on morning commuters?

Isn't it obvious that if these periodic jihads had any lasting effect they wouldn't have to keep doing them?

And why look for speeders at rush hour? By definition, this oxymoron means there are going to be very few people travelling above a crawl!

It seems that the Police are not prepared to address the real traffic problems so they simply spend a few days ticketing people who are on their way to work and call it "zero tolerance".

If they want easy pickings, they should walk up and down Reid Street ticketing all the cars that are double-parked.

At least that would actually ease some of the congestion. But if they really want to make the roads safer, they have to have year-round Island-wide patrols.

Can we reduce the number of vehicles in Hamilton?

Well, public transportation as it currently exists is not an option.

They'd first need to provide enough parking capacity at the ferry docks and change the timetables to suit the passengers instead of the PTB staff.

But until they're classified as essential services so that the staff can't walk off the job without notice, no one who has a choice will risk being stranded.

Car-pooling might work, but the Premier should put his Ministers where his mouth is and lead by example.

He needs to set up a GP Car Pool so that his Cabinet has to share.

He could even do without GP1 since he can walk to work from his "Official" Residence.

That would not only set a good example with regards to transport, but also for public health.

That is unless, of course, he's going to get all "Animal Farm" on us and claim that some people are more equal than others.

And since Government is by far the largest employer in Bermuda, getting civil servants to car pool as well will go a long way to reducing the volume of traffic going into Hamilton.

Lose the GP cars

If he gets rid of all those GP cars and gets the civil service to share rides to work everyday, THEN he can talk to me about when and where I can drive my car.

But the best way to reduce traffic would be to get all the bad drivers off the road.

Every time you get a traffic ticket you should lose your licence and not get it back until you complete a lengthy course on proper driving techniques AND get a perfect score on a stringent written test. Seven out of ten is not good enough.

I don't want you to know MOST of the rules of the road. You have to be a safe driver ALL of the time.[[In-content Ad]]

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