In the wake of a recent series of fatal road traffic collisions, last week The Royal Gazette ran a series called `Life in the Fast Lane'. The series focused on the dangers of Bermuda's roads and possible solutions in hopes of taking steps towards changing the way people drive on Bermuda's roads.

With the series over, however, The Royal Gazette talked with three youngsters - a 16-year old girl, a 16-year old boy, and a 15-year old girl - to see just how much teenagers in particular had been affected by the recent deaths and the `Life in the Fast Lane' series.

The results were not encouraging.

Worried about their parents' reactions to what they said, the teens did not wish to be identified. The greatest dangers on the road, they agreed, were speeding and overtaking, while tourists and people failing to use their indicators were close behind.

But, with everything they knew, was it worthwhile to speed in Bermuda?

"It doesn't really matter to me, I drive slow anyway," said said the 16-year old girl. About how slow on average? "Between 50 and 60 kph. Like everyone else." Caught for speeding twice, she had only been on the road five months.

"It's better to go 10k slower and save $500 each time ... it's not worth risking your life to get there faster," said the boy. How fast did he drive normally? "I'd cruise at, like, 70," he said - like most guys his age with good bikes. He had been on the road five and a half months, he said - and had been caught for speeding five times, the first being his second day on the road. He is currently off the road.

And he was not alone in being caught so soon. Without hesitation the three reeled off at least ten names of other youngsters who had been taken off the road barely a year into getting their licenses. They remembered a friend who had been stopped on his third day on the road - driving at 81 kph. A fourth had totalled her bike, they said, on the third or fourth day after she got her license.

In fact, they seemed so used to road traffic collisions that they viewed them as commonplace incidents. The two girls had both been on the back of bikes that were in accidents, and the boy had seen several accidents himself. They saw multiple ambulances on the roads every day. They knew plenty of people who had been in accidents, some very serious - and they were well versed in the fate of Michael Cardoso, a 16 year old now paralysed and confined to a wheelchair for life after a bike accident. What happened to Mikey was terrible, they agreed.

So how could they explain the discrepancy between what they were saying and what they were doing? Didn't that make them stop and think?

"No," said the boy. "I'd just see if I could go quicker. If something happened I'd deal with it at the time. It's fun to go fast."

"The roads aren't dangerous unless you drive dangerous," the 16-year old girl said. "But everyone drives dangerous ... Personally, I think it's everyone trying to make themselves look wicked."

The 15-year old agreed. "It's never really people in a rush," she said. "People just do it for no reason."

And what about drunk driving? Everybody drinks and drives, they said. "It doesn't matter if they're driving, they're going to drink anyway."

Some people can tell their limits, they said: two or three drinks for the girls, depending on how much they've eaten. "If I have more than a six-pack of Heineken that's when I stop," said the boy. "I usually sober up for a couple of hours."

Not everyone cares about limits, however. The teens named one friend in particular, saying he "just thinks it's a game anyway".

But does that scare them? "A little," the 16-year old girl said. "I've never really thought about it."

"It's not the first thing that comes to mind when you're driving," said the boy.

Solutions to the problem did not include taking people off the road, they said. "That's just going to piss people off and make them drive illegally." Fines would be better, they said, or community service. "They're not going to realise (the danger) if you just give them a big fine, they need to do something to realise," said the 16-year old girl.

Project Ride, they said, was not enough. "They didn't teach me about the dangers of the road, they taught me how to go through cones," said the 16-year old girl. "They helped me pass my test the second time."

Education of some sort did seem to be the key, however. Bombarding youngsters well before they turn 16 with all the horror stories and making them realise what could happen was part of their answer. "If you see someone get into an accident you will be scarred, one way or another," said the boy.

The two 16-year olds had some advice for people just getting their licenses, like their 15-year old friend. Do only what you think you can do, they said. If you know your bike can't overtake, don't worry about it, and if everyone else is going fast but you think `my bike can't do this', do not do it. And the girl repeated a tip her boss had told her - be aware of everything. Think of what could happen.

As for drinking and driving: "Don't be scared to get a cab. If you need to, tell your parents. There's always someone you can call ... If you know you're going to get wassy, make a plan."

But would anyone listen to their advice? Had the `Life in the Fast Lane' series made a difference?

People might think about it, they might not, they said. It depends on the 16-year old. "Most 16-year olds think `it's never going to happen to me'," said the 16-year old girl.

"If they take the time to read it (the newspaper) they must care a little bit," said the boy.

"But even if they do it's not going to make that much of a difference."