general opinion of a group of people polled on the street for Wednesday's newspaper.

Are they correct? We think they are basically correct and we think that if Bermuda did not try to keep the speed down there would be far more serious accidents. Given the driving and riding habits, it is only the relatively low speed which mitigates against bad accidents. It is, of course, significant that excessive speed is a factor in many of the serious accidents. Almost everyone we spoke to mentioned speeding as a main reason for accidents in Bermuda.

One woman said: "They know the speed limit. Why is it necessary to go at 60 kph around a bend. We're only a 22 square mile Island. Bermuda is not the United States. I don't understand why drivers need to go so fast when it doesn't take long to get from one end of the Island to the other anyway.'' The people we polled think that road users are becoming more reckless. "It's the people. They're becoming less responsible.'' "It's due to recklessness.

That's what the problem is.'' "People are not as cautious on the roads as they used to be.'' Some people are reckless but we are not sure that people generally are more reckless. There seems these days to be a fair amount of courtesy and politeness on the roads in terms of pulling out and allowing people to merge.

There is no doubt that there is excessive speed for the road system we have.

Wider roads are not the answer because wider roads simply increase speeding.

One of the people we spoke to said about widening roads: "That just encourages more speeding like Palmetto Road. I think that it causes people to speed more and so there are more accidents as a result.'' Clearly there are some very bad and dangerous habits on Bermuda's roads which make driving more difficult. One very dangerous action is cyclists who pull up on the inside of cars. Some riders even do it to pass which seems especially foolish.

An alarming number of cars pass on corners or in positions where they cannot see what is coming. Frequently they force the vehicle they are passing or an oncoming vehicle to brake, which is dangerous. There is also a tendency of bicyclists to illegally ride two abreast thus making passing difficult.

Car horns have been rendered virtually worthless as a warning instrument, which is what they are, by the tendency to use them as a means of greeting.

That's dangerous because when they are necessary they can be ignored.

There is a very inconsiderate habit of stopping any old place to chat, to run into a shop or to pick up passengers thus obstructing other vehicles.

Tailgateing is widespread and dangerous if the car in front has to stop for any reason. Frequently at night people drive so close that their lights are obscured. But leaving a proper space between you and the vehicle in front is difficult because almost inevitably someone will pass and fill the space.

As one of the people we spoke with said: "The roads aren't bad but some of the people are.'' Another said: "People just have to take more care.'' We tend to agree with the person who told our reporter that a driver education programme should be taught in schools. "I think that something like that would considerably improve some people's road manners.''