A man and a woman were "fighting for their lives" in hospital last night after separate crashes just two days after the Island's roads claimed their fourth fatality of 2008.

Police said this week had seen an "unprecedented" number of serious traffic accidents and pleaded with the public to slow down and pay attention when driving.

A 23-year-old woman suffered serious head injuries in the first crash when her car overturned and struck a wall. She was critical in the intensive care unit of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital late last night.

Police said the female motorist was driving east along Middle Road, near the junction with Longford Road in Warwick, just before 12.45 a.m. yesterday when she apparently lost control of her vehicle.

The car hit a pavement, overturned and collided with a wall. The driver, from Paget, was rushed to hospital via ambulance. The car's front seat passenger, a 23-year-old St. George's woman, suffered facial injuries and abrasions. She was in a stable condition at the hospital last night.

The second serious accident happened at about 8.20 p.m. yesterday when a 38-year-old man travelling east on an auxiliary cycle along Palmetto Road hit a mini roundabout and came off his bike.

The rider, an American married to a Bermudian, was taken to hospital with head injuries and was also in a critical condition. The accident near Barkers Hill did not involve any other vehicles.

A third accident yesterday resulted in two men being taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after their car hit an embankment, overturned and collided with a jeep.

The accident happened at about 8 a.m. on North Shore Road, near the junction with Studio Lane, in Hamilton parish.

Police said the car was travelling west when the driver, a 22-year-old Sandys parish man, apparently lost control. The vehicle struck an embankment, overturned and then collided with a jeep travelling in the opposite direction.

The car driver suffered lacerations to his right arm and his front seat passenger, a 35-year-old Hamilton parish man, suffered a laceration to his forehead.

The 64-year-old jeep driver was not injured but his vehicle had a shattered front windscreen and front end damage. The car was extensively damaged.

Late on Wednesday evening, a 37-year-old motorcyclist from Paget was injured in a crash at the junction of South Road and Ardsheal Drive, Paget. (see report on page 10).

While on Tuesday, 36-year-old David Ellis died in hospital less than a week after being found lying in the road with serious head injuries after a road collision. The young father became the fourth road fatality of the year.

Bermuda Police Service spokesman Dwayne Caines told The Royal Gazette: "This week, it has been unprecedented. It's one of the worst weeks in recent history when it comes to serious road traffic collisions.

"We now have two individuals fighting for their lives in KEMH and one man pronounced dead on Tuesday. This underscores a very serious and now sobering message: the Bermuda Police Service in conjunction with the Road Safety Council is pleading with the motoring public to slow down on our roadways and obey the rules of the road."

Mr. Caines said the situation was getting to a critical point. He urged drivers not to use cell phones, iPods or dark visors as they could all cause a distraction.

Anyone with information about any of the accidents should call Police on 295-0011.