February 26, 2013Dear Sir,It has taken me a couple of weeks to revise this letter — from a rambling angry tirade to hopefully a letter that offers a positive solution.I do firmly believe that the behaviour exhibited by road users in Bermuda reflects the attitude that is pervasive throughout many aspects of our society. In bullet point, I will cite each infraction to our traffic laws that I witnessed in ONE day, that had me so angry, I needed the time to calm down and find some positive suggestions to put forth.1. On my 6am walk (exercising for my health), I feel like I am on the curb of an American speedway. Middle Road, Warwick is a first class track!2. Next up, is my drive to Hamilton, at roughly 7.45am from Warwick. Leaving in plenty of time to allow for unforeseen hold-ups, I am able to be courteous and allow people from side streets and driveways into the flow of traffic, possibly gobbling up two to five minutes of the total time spent on my morning commute. I have to then put up with the irate driver behind me, leaning on their horn, mouthing obscenities, or the driver who feels that they can intimidate me by moving at speed only to stop inches from my bumper.3. Ahhh! The Paget traffic lights. This area, I believe sees the worst of offenders. That particular morning, I witnessed no less than three cars go through the red light from South Shore.4. I arrive at Bull’s Head car park and have to face, for the third morning in a row, a vehicle coming at me on the one way section by the car wash, where a sign clearly says No Entry.5. Inside the car park, I saw no less than two cars driving in the opposite direction of the arrows. I asked one driver if she knew that she was going the wrong way. Her response was “everybody does it”.6. I paused at the pedestrian crossing only to see a driver drive right through. He was looking down towards his lap and only had one hand on the wheel. Whatever he was doing, he wasn’t paying attention to the road, and I was thankful that I was attentive.Here are some considerations to address the issues:1. If you are a driver, leave five minutes earlier than you do now.2. Make it a point to slow down to a stop on a yellow light.3. Allow at least three stops to allow traffic from side roads and driveways into the main flow of traffic.4. Obey our speed limit and road signs as they are there to protect us all, you included.5. Listen to Bootsie on your commute. I can guarantee that the clean and funny and inspirational content of his show will calm you down, lift you up and make you smile. Great way to start the day!Now, for the tough love part. We need to enforce our laws:1. I suggest remote policing for catching speeders, drivers who ignore traffic lights and stop signs. The registered owner of the vehicle will be held responsible for the fine and points against unless they accompany the person who was driving the car, if not the owner, to the traffic department where that person will pay the fine and lose the points.2. Employ more traffic wardens to deal with the issues of tinted windows, talking on cell phones, littering, loud music, ignoring road signs and lights, etc. I don’t think we need police if you train and give wardens the tools to get the job done.3. Collect the fines, revamp the points system so it actually works and gets people who have no regard for the laws off the roads.4. Increase the fines 100 percent. This will bring in the much needed revenue to hire the extra people and purchase the remote equipment to enforce the laws.We all need to be held accountable. Is there anyone who would disagree that if we enforce the traffic laws, people will then come to obey them? Is there anyone who would disagree that a little courtesy on our roads goes a long way in making your day and someone else’s better?Anyway, food for thought. See you on the road -I will be the one smiling because I am obeying the laws, being courteous and listening to Bootsie’s show.JUDY CANALE