Calls went out last night for greater responsibility on the roads of Bermuda.

Residents living in Ord Road, Warwick, said yesterday morning's fatal smash was waiting to happen as cars and bikes regularly raced along the thin and winding road, which stretches between Paget and Warwick.

Taxi driver Vaughan Simons, who lives on Ord Road, just yards from where the accident happened, said he got up to use the bathroom just prior to 5 a.m., and heard the brakes of the car screeching before it collided.

“In the wee hours of the morning, every so often I hear a car or bike going racing through here, so I feel it was only a matter of time before this happened,” said Mr. Simons.

“But it is not just at night - it is during the day, as well.

“I believe that individuals have to stop this for themselves - motorists have to slow down. I think road calming measures along Ord Road may help, such as road humps, but then guys on bikes might just use the humps to pop wheelies.

“You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. What happened is very sad, but I was not really surprised.”

Mr. Vaughan said even walking along Ord Road, pedestrians had to be extremely careful.

“Even walking up here, you have to be so vigilant and listen to what's coming behind you because the traffic flies down here. You have to be prepared to take evasive action. It's such a long road, people really build up speed.”

Parliamentary candidates for the Ord Road area, Mark Pettingill and Dale Butler, said they had both received concerns from residents about traffic during the last few weeks of canvassing.

Mr. Butler sent his condolences to the family, and said: “Residents have expressed a lot of concerns about traffic going through Ord Road, but what the solutions are, I don't know. We call community meetings, but only one or two people come out. We need to get people on board and discuss these issues.”

The United Bermuda Party's Mr. Pettingill said he had radical ideas to help solve the problems, and said besides a greater Police presence, a curfew for young people under the age of 18 should be introduced.

He also questioned why children aged 16, 15 and 14 were out at 5 a.m. in the morning, in the first place.

“This is not the first time that issues have been raised about speeding bikes and cars in this area and something needs to be done,” said Mr. Pettingill.

“I received complaints about it just hours before this happened.

“We need greater Police patrols, not just in this area, but Island-wide, and I am also in favour of a curfew for young people.

“This boy was 15, he should not have been out at this time of the morning. If Bermuda had a curfew, this may not have happened.”

Mr. Pettingill suggested an 11 p.m. curfew for week days and a 1 a.m. curfew for weekends, but said even then young people under the age of 18 should not be making early morning stop-outs a regular occurrence.

He added: “Even at the youth forum at the college, the young people suggested a curfew for under 18s, and I was very pleased to see that. I was astounded when that recommendation came from young people and then the Progressive Labour Party Government poo-pooed it.

“We need to ensure we know where our young people are at night. I don't think there is anything useful that a 15 or 16-year-old could be getting up to at these kind of hours in the morning.”

Mr. Butler said he would support a curfew, provided it was what the majority of the Island wanted. However, he said something of this magnitude should only be implemented following a series of public meetings and committees and then a referendum. And he questioned how easy it would be to implement the curfew and what the consequences would be.

He added: “Are we going to penalise the parents? What does a parent do? It's not as easy as it used to be.”

And he said he would also be behind road calming measures if the majority of the public were in support and if it would ease the speeding situation.

Mr. Butler said he believed Government had been reluctant to put in speed humps because of the legal responsibility Government would then have.

And when it came to traffic and speed, he said: “We need some common sense thinking.”

Road safety chairman Dr. Joseph Froncioni was off the Island at the time of the fatal accident and only returned yesterday afternoon, so was unable to speak specifically about the crash.

And although he said Ord Road had never been flagged up as a trouble spot to his committee, he believed speed and lack of responsibility on the roads was a major concern.

He said: “We do have a problem with people driving way beyond what the speed limit dictates for the kind of roads we have.

“It's hard to legislate common sense. We have laws against speeding, laws against drink driving and laws against not wearing seatbelts. But we can't be in every vehicle with every driver reminding him and her of the law.

“Education is the most important thing and we certainly need to improve the way we teach people how to drive.”

Dr. Froncioni said it was the third fatal road smash this year that involved very young people in cars, and he said the previous two involved drivers that were under the influence.

He also said he was interested in seeing Bermuda introduce a graduated bike and car driving test, where new motorists are given punishments and rewards for their driving skills until they have scored enough points to pass their test.

And he said the presence of Police on the roads was important.

“At the moment, we certainly don't have the same number of vehicles and constables that we used to have ten to 15 years ago. The Police presence is absent, and that plays a part.

“But in general, there is a disregard for the laws of the land and I'm not sure where that's coming from,” he said.