By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas has already recorded just over half the number of road traffic fatalities in 2017 that it recorded last year, according to the latest traffic fatality statistics.

The numbers, revealed by Transport and Local Government Minister Frankie Campbell, show how at 22, the country is now just 21 traffic fatalities away from the 43 which were recorded last year.

Similarly, the number of traffic accidents with serious injuries currently stands at 66, just 24 off from the 90 recorded in 2016. The country has also recorded more than half of the 2,162 traffic accidents with minor injuries recorded last year, with 1,261 currently documented.

The number of hit-and-run accidents recorded in 2017 currently stands at 644, 531 less than the 1,175 recorded in 2016.

Damage to public property, private property and vehicles currently stands at 4,533 for the year, as opposed to the 7,710 recorded for the whole of 2016.

The statistics Mr Campbell presented yesterday differed from those contained in the 2016 Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) crime statistics, with the former showing various increases and decreases throughout the respective categories.

Nonetheless, Mr Campbell, during a press conference attended by various members of the Road Safety Committee, said it is "vital" that the government "continue to focus on road safety". He said the "cost of this catastrophe to a developing country like The Bahamas is far too high".

"Some of our brightest and best have perished in accidents, or suffered life altering injuries which have devastated their families and diminished our nation's capacity to be at its very best," he said. "Despite the challenges associated with adjusting behaviour on our roads, we must persevere, as road accidents are preventable.

"It is therefore important that we focus our energies in this direction."

He added: "Improving road safety is a shared responsibility. Reducing the statistics referred to requires concentrated action across a number of sectors in our country. In addition, each citizen must make road safety a personal priority, in order to ensure that we reduce the number of fatalities on our streets throughout the country."

Mr Campbell encouraged motorists to adhere to the various road traffic laws, such as using pedestrian crossings rather than crossing the road arbitrarily, obeying the maximum speed limits both in the city and highways, and avoiding texting while driving.

The latter, Mr Campbell said, is "far too prevalent" in Bahamian society and the possibility exists for the introduction of legislation against texting while driving sometime in the future.

"All things are being considered," he said. "You will know that there was a time when we didn't have a seatbelt law, and we eventually evolved to that based on the trends that were developing. And I can safely say that the trends as it relates to the use of cellphones is sufficient for such legislation to be considered."