July 31, 2011Dear SirBermudians must be among the worst drivers/operators in the world, and they don’t even realise it. And the police and insurance companies let them get away with it. First of all, an accident is an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally and most traffic accidents in Bermuda are probably not ‘unexpected’. Is it either of those when the driver/operator is speeding, passing on a blind turn, texting/talking on a cellphone or under the influence?Bermuda must have the most single vehicle accidents for population size, and those are almost all caused by bad driving, usually excessive speed for the driver’s ability and the road conditions (curves, etc)Single vehicle accident operators should receive a traffic violation citation unless proven otherwise. There have even been calls to straighten the road in various locations where there have been accidents. Perhaps all roads in Bermuda should be straightened to allow for bad driving, then there would never be a need for passing on blind turns which causes so many accidents in Bermuda, and the official speed limit could be safely raised to that at which too many Bermudians drive now.The bad drivers don’t realise that they are disrespecting the rest of us by their bad driving. We are being disrespected when we have to jam on our brakes when they wander over the centre line coming towards us or when we come around a corner and they are coming at us on the wrong side of the road in the midst of a pass on a blind turn. We might have to scrape our vehicle on our side of the road to save them from being killed because they are driving badly. Certainly it is frightening for us, if not for them.We are being disrespected by the bad drivers because we have to pay increased vehicle and health insurance rates because it costs $20,000 to fly one of them to the US in an air ambulance plus thousands of dollars a day in the intensive care unit. They would be incredulous if we asked them to pay us for being good drivers and keeping their insurance rates down.Too many Bermudians operate on the belief (and not only on the road) that the rules don’t apply to me. Well, they do. And you are disrespecting the rest of us. What would you say or do if we disrespected you equally?STREETWALKERPembroke