Death and destruction was the theme for the month of April as six lives were lost on Bermuda's roads and one man was murdered.

Matthew Clarke, 31, a songwriter and producer, was found by his fiancee stabbed at his home in North Shore Road, Pembroke on April 9.

Mr. Clarke's fiancee, Charlitta Spencer, described him as a generous man who loved his family.

She said: "He loved his family. He loved his children. He loved me. That kind of was his life. He was a great father. He always did whatever he had to do to make sure they were OK. He was a happy person. I loved him and he loved me." Three men have since been arrested in connection with the murder.

And though April was Alcohol Awareness Month and the Road Safety Council held its annual Road Safety Week, the Island entered, what the Junior Transport Minister, Sen. Wayne Caines called a 'National Crisis'.

Sen. Caines said: "Eight deaths in four months — this is a national crisis. New legislation and stronger Police enforcement will help, but that is only a part of the solution.

"We must modify our driving habits. We must not drive after we have consumed alcohol. We must respect the speed limit, which is 35 kilometres and we must all hold each other accountable.

"Together, we can make a change — 'Make a choice, choose life.'"

Father David Ellis, 36, was pronounced dead at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on April 8, less than a week after he was found on the ground at Tween Walls, Sandys after a road collision.

On Saturday, April 12 Charles Everett, 30, of law firm Appleby died after his motorcycle hit a tree and was found by a passer-by at the junction of Cedar Avenue and Laffan Street in Pembroke.

Later the same day Kelvin Lamar Quarles, 37, died from injuries he suffered when he fell from his auxiliary cycle on Palmetto Road.

Then on April 14, Twenty-three-year-old Kitina Simmons died at KEMH from head injuries she suffered when her car flipped.

The Road Safety Council tried to eemphasise the severity of the problem during Road Safety Week at the end of the month with staged accidents and a publicity campaign.

In some cases the set-up was so realistic — with torn clothing, blood, injuries such as bones sticking out — that motorists stopped to ask if they could help and it is thought one of the scenarios was the cause behind a real four-car shunt on Kindley Field as people stopped to look.

There were also many calls to 911 as people thought they were seeing real accidents.

Unfortunately, at the end of the week, on April 26 at 4 a.m. Larry Thomas, a father of two, died when his motorcycle collided with a van going in the opposite direction.

At the time, Roxanne Christopher, of Road Safety Council, echoed the concerns of Mr. Caines saying that the Island was in crisis and one organisation could not do it all.

"It cannot be just one singular agency addressing road safety. if we are ever going to see a decrease in fatalities and road crashes — it is going to take a community-wide effort.

"Everyone must take accountability. That means parents speaking to their children, people speaking to their family and we must impose stiffer penalties for drinking and driving.

"The current culture which has enormous empathy for drink-drivers can no longer be accepted or tolerated.

"Road fatalities in our culture has become so acceptable, but at some point everyone must be tired. Irrespective of the colour of your skin or whether you're a Bermudian or not — everyone is at risk and we are in a crisis."