By Sara Westhead

As Bermuda’s roads appear to be getting more and more hazardous, with increasing rates of road fatalities, the Bermuda Road Safety Council has taken on a more aggressive strategy to reach young people with the need to be more diligent and cautious while driving on our roads.

However, even before the need to change bad habits comes the need to equip our young people with the skills to embark on their driving career safely and securely.

Nearly 15 years ago, the Road Safety Council, in partnership with several of the island’s senior schools, launched the Project Ride programme, which is designed to give young people about to receive their driver’s license the tools necessary for becoming a conscientious road user.

Currently the programme, which is held at almost all of the island’s senior schools, is consists of eight weeks of training on basic cycle maintenance, cycle control, safe positioning, negotiating corners, rules of the road, road signs and communicating with other road users through the proper use of indicators and horns.

During the programme, which varies slightly from school to school, each student will have at least four hours of training in physically handling the bike before taking the practical driving test at the Transport Control Department.

One of the biggest downfalls of the programme has been that it is not accessible to all students. While the numbers of applicants to complete the course is high, the number of available instructors and resources has proven to be lacking.

But how successful is the programme? According to Acting Road Safety Officer, David Minors, apart from a 90 percent success rate in programme participants going on to obtain their licence after completing the course, there really is no data to determine whether these young people are going on to become safe and successful drivers, or just more statistics.

“I believe that Project Ride is a viable programme,” Mr. Minors said. However, the programme, as it is now, is limited. He hopes to eventually see the programme become more in-depth.

“The programme needs to be further developed,” he added.

He would also like to see the programme become a mandatory driver’s education course required for graduation.

However, while Project Ride can give young people the tools to become better drivers, it does require the whole community’s involvement .

“The easiest thing would be to go back to community policing,” he explained. When you see a young person, especially someone you know, driving recklessly, inform their parents, inform their school. And parents shouldn’t be afraid to take away their kid’s keys.

Right now, Bermuda does appear to be facing a crisis on our roads with what could potentially become the worst road safety year on record in more than ten years. At the current rate, Bermuda, which is currently averaging two fatalities each month, could be seeing, potentially, more than 20 deaths this year.

As a result, the Council is launching a new initiative, hoping to incorporate the testimony of families and friends that have been affected by road fatalities through the use of more aggressive language.

“If they won’t listen to the police, if they won’t listen to the Road Safety Council, maybe they’ll listen to someone’s aunt or grandmother,” Mr. Minors said.

He encourages young people to think before they act.

“When they choose to ride recklessly, when they choose to speed, they are putting their lives in danger.”

Project Ride:<\p>Making Bermuda’s roads safer