About 40 people a week needed hospital treatment due to road collisions, new figures for October reveal.

Announcing the figures, Erica Rance Mill, the chairwoman of the Bermuda Road Safety Council, stated: “This is such a mind-numbing number. One would hope that with the number of collisions, many quite serious in nature, that we have on our roads attitudes would change, but sadly this is not occurring.”

Statistics released by the Bermuda Hospitals Board to the RSC show that from January 1 this year to the end of October, 1,411 people required emergency room treatment as a result of a road collision — an increase of 160 over the figure up to the end of September.

At the end of September 126 people required treatment in the acute care wing — by the end of last month that figure had increased to 140.

Twenty-three people required treatment in the intensive care unit at the end of September. That number increased to 29 at the end of October.

“We shared these numbers with the public last month and will continue to share them until the message hits home, and we see a decline,” said Mrs Rance Mill.

She added: “The fact that Government has pledged to introduce roadside sobriety tests and speed cameras next year is a step in the right direction and I look forward to seeing that happen.

“This will not prevent all collisions from occurring, but hopefully these measures will assist in seeing a decline.

“These measures are punitive in nature but we would also hope that personal responsibility at some point becomes the main reason in a decline in numbers. Education is key and so is consistent messaging.

“People must take responsibility for their own actions. The figures outlined here are for people aged 18 and older, so these are adults.

“On the Road Safety Council’s Facebook page, we have been consistently using #arrivealive, maybe we should also use #arriveuninjured.”

For more information, visit www.bermudaroadsafety.bm