Police had a narrow escape just before the start of curfew this morning when a driver clocked at 103km/h – or 64mph – just missed three officers at a traffic stop.

The driver failed to stop for police at a stop in Warwick at 12.25am, five minutes before the curfew kicked in.

Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell, head of the tactical support unit, said drivers were still trying to beat the 12.30am to 5am curfew.

He added: “Typically it’s during that last half-hour, from midnight to 12.30am, when the speeds increase.

“That’s when we also get collisions as a result.”

The news came in the wake of 17 deaths on the island’s roads in 2021 after a 26-year-old man was killed on Christmas Day.

Last year tied as the highest number of roads fatalities since 2008, when the same figure was reached.

Mr Cardwell earlier highlighted impaired driving, driver fatigue, and inattention and distraction from using cell phones as leading causes of poor decisions on the roads.

The island-wide speed checkpoints over the weekend were part of Operation Vega, a traffic control crackdown launched last July.

The Bermuda Police Service said the weekend’s “most notable incident” involved a driver who was clocked at 81km/h, or 50mph, in St George’s.

The same driver was pulled over at another speed checkpoint after he was detected at 60km/h, or 37mph, 30 minutes later in Warwick.

A BPS post on social media told the public: “This type of driving behaviour is unacceptable and puts the lives of others at risk.

“We once again remind the public to leave your locations early enough to make it to your destination before curfew.

“Please drive responsibly and slow down, Bermuda.”

More than $8,000 in traffic tickets were handed out by police in the first week of this month.