Deputy Police Commissioner Mr. Michael Mylod yesterday admitted the Police Service was "deeply concerned'' by Bermuda's accident rate.

Too many accidents were caused by driver error, excess speed and bad driving habits, he said. Bermuda's narrow roads and high vehicle density made motorists particularly prone to road traffic accidents.

His comments came in the wake of a spate of serious road accidents -- the latest of which has left a 35-year-old woman still fighting for her life in intensive care, four days after she was involved in a collision on Harrington Sound Road.

The Pink Beach Club waitress remains in critical but stable condition a King Edward VII Hospital spokesman said yesterday.

In a new Bermuda Police Service strategy released last week Police Commissioner Mr. Colin Coxall indicated Police would be taking a fresh approach to traffic offenders and road safety with greater focus on driver training, road engineering to slow traffic and remote enforcement with the use of speed detection cameras.

Officers would be spending more time on formal cautioning and advice and less on traffic ticketing and prosecution, he said.

"It is hoped that cautioning and advice will impact on offending drivers by pointing out to them their anti-social behaviour and potential danger to themselves and innocent road users,'' Mr. Mylod said yesterday.

Traffic calming, he said, was a system of road engineering aimed at slowing vehicles with well-indicated changes in the road surface.

Speed control cameras that recorded the date, time and speeds of offenders would make roads "self regulating''.

But Pink Beach Club managing director Mr. W.A. (Toppy) Cowen claimed more immediate steps were needed to clamp down on reckless drivers who were terrorising locals and tourists alike.

Mr. Cowen said his employee was the latest victim of "appalling driving behaviour'' that was "not only chasing our tourists away but causing many residents to think twice about driving altogether.'' The accident, he said, followed recent complaints by long term guests of the hotel who were considering going elsewhere on vacation because of bad behaviour on Bermuda's roads.

"I think there is an urgency to seriously clamp down on offenders forthwith,'' Mr. Cowen said. "Painful consequences sometimes get better results and in this case many lives may be saved.

"It is time to take immediate steps to eradicate the dangerous drivers.'' Mr. Michael Mylod