Bermuda's roads are in a state close to "anarchy" as laws fail to be enforced and teenagers are not taught how to ride their bikes.

This according to Dr. Joseph Froncioni, the founder of the charity Bermuda SMARTRISK, who along with Jennifer Attride-Stirling and Marcelo Ramella compiled accident statistics and information from more than 3,500 accidents reported to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) in a two-year period.

What they found was that at the age of 16 — when many Bermudian teenagers are getting their first pair of wheels — they are also the most at risk of being in an accident.

That risk only decreases after five years of driving as motorists become more used to the vehicle and their brains develop and they can assess the risk.

These among other issues could be behind the 67 percent increase in road injuries sustained by residents between 1993 and 2004, according to Dr. Froncioni, who was speaking to the Hamilton Rotary Club yesterday. Lack of Police presence and effective law enforcement is also a major factor, he said.

"There are no Police on the road. We need Police on the road. What I see now is close to anarchy. It's rare to see a Police officer and when you do, it's a blitz.

"We need sobriety tests. What we want to do is to deter drinking and driving. "We advertise and advertise everywhere.

"We want to stop the drinking and driving. We are trying to get the word out that something needs to be done and we have statistics that need to be addressed.

"The Government needs to take action. No change will happen until the politicians get the courage to make things happen. We have some very good laws that are not working. We need to make functional the laws we have."

One of those laws includes the Helmet Standards Amendment, which would ensure that every helmet worn is safe. However, according to Dr. Froncioni, this is not enacted though a simple screening at Transport Control Department (TCD) would be all that is needed to ensure the head gear is safe.

Because the majority of accidents result in head injuries, safer helmets, according to Dr. Froncioni, could save the majority of accident victims who report to the hospital with head injuries.

Cracking down on helmet failure was just one of the recommendations that the group of researchers presented in their findings that came from a two-year study of cases at KEMH.

From January 1, 2003 to December 2004, the researchers discovered that about five accidents were reported a day, which apparently was not a surprise to doctors at the hospital.

Dr. Froncioni said: "Our children do not know how to ride. It involved one thing — risk assessment. If you cannot tell if something is risky then you cannot ride the bike. "It takes about five years to learn how to ride bikes."

Not only are Bermudian teenagers at high risk for injury, but also tourists in every age group are at more risk for injury than locals.