One of the more bizarre sights to have appeared in recently was of a sign near the entrance to the Whitney Institute on Middle Road in Smith?s Parish.

The sign, rightly, urges drivers to slow down as they approach the zebra crossing to the bus stop on the other side of the road from the school. And it contains what someone in Government presumably thought was an attention-getting slogan: ?Kill your speed. Not me.?

The sign is attention getting, but the slogan isn?t the only reason. It?s the speed that drivers are advised to reduce their speed to ? 35 kph. For those people whose driving tests have long been lost from the sight of their rear view mirrors, that?s the official speed limit.

Now, to be sure, the speed limit is generally honoured in the breach in Bermuda. The Police certainly don?t stop anyone going less than 50 kph, and if everyone drove at or under 35 kph, it would probably bring traffic around the Island to a halt.

Indeed, all people who actually adhere to the official speed limit get for a reward are beeping horns and angry shouts from the vehicles overtaking them. And that?s just from the bike riders.

But the time has come for Bermuda to drop this charming and utterly dishonest come hither to tourists, since that is essentially all the official speed limit is.

At the same time, the Police need to enforce the new speed limit, which should be around 45 kph.

And they also need to crack down on the atrocious driving habits and blatant violations of the traffic code that occur every day on the roads.

That is probably why drivers were being pulled over on Harbour Road this week, although the Police did not have the common sense to stop the exercise after an accident on Front street started backing up commuters even more.

Occasional traffic stops like this during rush hour are not the answer anyway. They have the advantage of convenience for the Police because a lot of people can be stopped in a reasonably short period of time.

But they are no substitute for a regular Police presence on the roads and regular use of speed traps.

It may be that the Police do not have the manpower to deal with the problem, given the rise of serious crime. But the answer is simple: When Colin Coxall was Commissioner, he planned to install fixed sped cameras.

These cameras are widely used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. They photograph the speeding vehicle and a week or so later, the speeding ticker, complete with photograph, is sent to the vehicle?s owner. The owner can then pay the fine or fight it in court. Once too many offences are recorded, the owner loses his or her driving licences.

Clearly, there will be disagreements over who was driving the car at the time of the offence. In those cases, the owner will have the burden of producing the driver, or proving the car had been ?borrowed?.

The cameras in turn will reduce the need for Police to spend hours hiding in the bushes catching and chasing speeders. They can then be used to police the roads for the dozens of other offences that seem to be occurring daily on the roads.