Road fatalities in Bermuda fell to an 11-year low in 2015, as seven people died while travelling on the Island.

Although public figures praised the Bermuda Police Service for reducing casualties — down from 15 in 2014 — they also called for increased action in 2016 to further curtail loss of life.

Inspector Robert Cardwell credited the drop to the BPS’s Road Safety Strategy, which began last January and involved community groups and the Bermuda Government to address a “bad driving culture”.

A total of 7,867 motorists received a court summons in 2015, which equates to roughly one in eight Bermuda residents. A further 3,146 Motorist Advice Notices were given, in which officers warned drivers over relatively minor traffic offences, while a new records management system monitored the performance of both units and individual officers.

Yet, Inspector Cardwell acknowledged that the service’s greatest challenge lay in halting drunk and reckless drivers.

“The majority of road deaths typically involve alcohol or speed, in some instances both,” he said, adding that this message had been widely spread across multiple media platforms.

Anthony Santucci, the executive director of the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, called for the BPS to consider new ideas in the fight against drunk drivers.

He said: “Cada is clearly pleased to see that the number of road fatalities has been reduced in 2015. We certainly hope this is a continuous trend, keeping in mind that since 2007 we have been asking for roadside sobriety checkpoints, the inception of an alcohol bureau of control, and blood tests for all individuals involved in accidents which result in injury.”

Mr Santucci added that the proposed bureau could be paid for by a sales tax imposed on Bermuda’s alcohol sales, concluding, “Our objective is to change Bermuda’s relationship with alcohol”.

Shawn Crockwell, Minister of Tourism Development, called the 2015 figures “encouraging”, but urged road users to reconsider their responsibilities in the aim to register zero fatalities in 2016.

“We continue to lose our loved ones at an alarming rate, and we all have to redouble our efforts to make motoring in Bermuda safer,” he said. “Much more needs to be done.”

Lawrence Scott, the Shadow Minister of Transport, said that the latest statistics would be “no consolation” to those who had lost their loved ones.

He also advised against unchecked optimism — pointing to the low 2002 figures, in which two road deaths were recorded, before a “seismic” increase the following year to 10 people.

Mr Scott suggested that the BPS deploy more officers and equipment to monitor roads between 10pm and 3am, the peak time for road accidents, and that licensed premises assume greater legal responsibility over serving intoxicated patrons.

Insp Cardwell accepted that there was “no single solution” to tackling Bermuda’s historically problematic safety record.

“It is an accumulation of multiple problems that combine and make driving or riding on the roads an unpleasant experience,” he added, citing complacency, disregard for road laws, inattention, recklessness and risk-taking as daily sights across the Island.

Insp Cardwell also stated that the BPS would repeat its road safety lecture series in Bermudian high schools in 2016, aimed at curbing the number of 16- to 18-year-olds admitted to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s ER unit — the most frequent visitors of any age bracket.

Philip Benjamin James, 21, became the 117th person to die on Bermuda’s roads in the past decade, when his motorcycle collided with a car in Warwick on Boxing Day.