I was particularly saddened by the tragic death of nineteen-year-old Troylisha Outerbridge on Friday and my heart goes out to her family and friends. When I see such carnage, I am forced to question whether we are doing enough to make our roads safer. It is however a statement by Mr. Clarence Tucker, Troylisha's grandfather, that prompted me to submit this commentary.

"I don't believe accidents happen, I believe they are caused." said Mr. Tucker.

Whether Mr. Tucker knows it or not, his words of wisdom reflect one of the newest and most important concepts in the world of road safety. In fact, his opinion about the weekend tragedy mirrors one of the main themes at last year's Sixth World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control. The message is the following: Ninety percent of "accidents" are predictable and preventable. We must abandon the word "accident" because it leads to complacency and inaction. We must stop thinking of these tragic events as acts of God over which we have no control. The word accident does not imply accountability, causation, predictability or prevention. A crash is not just a sad event that happens for no reason. As Mr. Tucker implied, there is a cause and that cause must be addressed.

It would be inappropriate for me to speculate about the cause of this latest road tragedy as the investigation is ongoing. My comments, therefore, should be seen only as generalisations about this type of crash. Ask any physician who works in an emergency room about road crashes and you're likely to get the same response: alcohol and/or drugs are nearly always a factor. It is a well-known fact that countries that have taken a hard line against drinking and driving have seen a dramatic decline in road fatalities. Bermuda is not one of those countries. Relative to other places, drink-driving offences in Bermuda are still punished by a slap on the wrist.

Abject disregard for the legal speed limit continues to be a major problem. Road users must understand that our roads cannot safely be travelled at speeds significantly higher than 35kph without serious risk of collision. Our roads are narrow and windy with very little possibility of being made safer by countermeasures (wide shoulders and median strips) used in jurisdictions with greater land resources. Slow down, take in the sights and get there in one piece.

Seat belts don't prevent crashes. They do however prevent serious injuries if you are unfortunate enough to have a crash. I can think of five major injuries in the last few weeks (including some of the injuries sustained by some of the victims of the latest crash) that would have been nearly entirely preventable by seatbelts. Seat belts and child car seats are now law. Do the right thing. Buckle up!

Mr. Tucker was also reported to have stated: "My only wish is that something good will come out of this."

Mr. Tucker, you and your family have paid too high a price for your wish to be ignored. I promise you that we will do our utmost to address the root cause leading to such tragedies. On Friday, I met with the Minister of Transport, Dr. Ewart Brown and the Director of TCD, Mr. Kevin Monkman to set priorities for this year's Road Safety Council. The problem is a complex one but we are determined to succeed.

Dr. Froncioni is chairman of the Bermuda Road Safety Council