involved in bike crashes within half an hour of each other.

A 16-year-old youth from St. George's was being treated for severe head injuries in intensive care after fracturing his skull, smashing bones in his face and breaking his foot.

But doctors were more hopeful an 18-year-old man from Pembroke would recover from serious injuries to his face and neck.

Surgeons were preparing to move him from the intensive care unit to a general ward when his condition grew more stable last night.

A spokeswoman at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital said: "The 16-year-old remains critical in ICU and his situation is being monitored very closely.

"The older boy's condition has shown signs of becoming more stable although he remains on the critical list.'' He was brought in just after 5.30 p.m. on Saturday when his red step-through Kawasaki collided with a dark green station wagon being driven by a 52-year-old St. George's man on St. John's Road, Pembroke.

The car driver was not seriously hurt but the teenager was immediately placed on the critical list.

Less than 30 minutes later, the 16-year-old, riding a black scooter, collided with a red trail bike ridden by a 23-year-old man on Mullet Bay Road, St.

George's.

The older man was also taken to hospital suffering from a fractured jaw and a finger injury but his condition was later described as stable on a general ward.

The teenager who fractured his skull was unconscious when he was loaded into the ambulance minutes after the smash.

Police have issued public road safety warnings after a string of accidents during the weekend.

And the driver of a Toyota Corolla was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after he totally lost control of his car which skidded off the road and into the water near the Airport.

Police probe rash of crashes The Corolla veered off Kindley Field Road, slid 75 yards down a grass bank, flipped over and landed upside down in the water at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Police said the driver, a 20-year-old St. George's man, and a passenger were able to climb out of the car near the junction with Mullet Bay Road.

A Police spokeswoman said they were taken to St. George's Police Station. The driver was later released and taken to hospital with cuts and bruises to his arms and legs.

Police are appealing for witnesses to to contact their local Police stations or to call the confidential Crimestoppers hotline on 1-800-623-8477.