A yearlong road safety campaign focusing on reducing the speed of drivers and riders has been launched.

The Bermuda Road Safety Council is spearheading the Save Lives/Slow Down campaign, which is being supported by Auto Solutions to the tune of $10,000.

The council is to focus its efforts on education and creating a “responsible and empathetic driving culture within our island”, and the effort is endorsed by the Bermuda Police Service.

At a press conference at Auto Solutions yesterday morning, Dennis Lister III, chairman of the BRSC, said the goal of the campaign is to “create a culture of safety on our roads and to reduce the number of preventable accidents and fatalities”.

Mr Lister said: “The aim of this campaign is to use a combination of local media, community engagement and a targeted outreach.

“Our target audience is all road users, drivers and riders of all ages. Our primary focus of this campaign is to increase awareness of the impact of driving in excessive speeds and to reduce your speed which reduces the risk of an accident.

“Speeding is not just a traffic violation — it is a behaviour that has far-reaching consequences, affecting families, individuals and entire communities. It is imperative that we understand the gravity of this issue and some of the impacts.”

Mr Lister said that speeding can reduce reaction time on the road, increase the severity of collisions, and give drivers less time to react to vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

He also highlighted the economic impact of a high incidences of road accidents as they drive up the cost of insurance for everyone.

Mr Lister said along with education, police enforcement will help to remedy the problem, which will be aided by new speed cameras.

He added: “We have heard from the Minister of Transport that they will soon be implementing CCTV cameras, which will go a long way to assist the BPS in their efforts to catch traffic offenders.”

The network is being upgraded to be able to clock speed, but legislation will need to be updated in order for camera evidence to be used to enforce speeding laws.

Mr Lister also encouraged responsible driving, being a role model on the road and reporting speeding to the police including video evidence. Drivers and riders however should not shoot footage while operating a vehicle.

Superintendent James Howard revealed that on average, one person dies on Bermuda’s roads every 33 days, one person is severely injured every three days and one person has a minor injury every 15 hours.

Mr Howard said: “This campaign aims to educate and raise awareness of the dangers of speeding, in addition the possible consequences if you choose to speed on our roads.

“If you don’t remember anything else I say today, remember this – Speed Kills, Kill your Speed.”

Asked whether he thought 35km/h was a credible speed limit in Bermuda, Mr Lister said: “Bermuda’s road infrastructure at this time doesn’t support an increase in speed.

“We have narrow roads, concealed entrances and we don’t have an adequate amount of side walks.

“Until we can address and fix our infrastructure, maybe then we can have a conversation about increasing the speed — 35km/h — that was introduced a long time ago and time has come forward.”

Mr Howard added: “That would need to be legislated — the police have a role to play in that we do give information and data, and the police commissioner gives his opinion.

“Speed and road conditions are up to the legislator — our job is to enforce and assist with education.”

A road safety mascot in the form of a turtle, Felix the Road Safety Ranger, was also present at the press conference.

Mr Lister said that the council provides school presentations about road safety at all year levels.

He said that tag line for the speeding campaign is “slow down, your family are waiting for you”.

“As we head in to the festive season we want you to share it with your family,” he said.