By RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporter

rmajor@tribunemedia.net

POLICE in New Providence are investigating a traffic accident that left a man dead yesterday.

According to police, shortly after 3am on Sunday, a man was driving east on Tonique Williams Darling Highway in a grey Honda Accord, when a man driving a white Honda Inspire collided into the rear of the vehicle. As a result, both drivers lost control of their vehicles.

The driver of the Honda Inspire was examined by paramedics and pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the Honda Accord was transported to hospital and is listed in stable condition.

The Tribune understands the deceased is father-of-two D’Angelo Bethel, 29, however his identity was not released by police.

According to police statistics, 69 people died in 63 traffic accidents in 2018. This represented a 28 percent increase in traffic deaths; 54 people died in 49 traffic accidents in 2017.

In May, police said they were working to hopefully reduce the number of fatal traffic accidents.

At the time, Chief Superintendent Craig Stubbs said distracted drivers were the main contributing factor to these accidents.

“We also saw where the major contributing factor of these accidents were distracted drivers,” CSP Stubbs, of the RBPF Traffic Department, said earlier this year. “Persons engaged with the use of handheld devices while operating their vehicles. Globally the use of handheld mobile telephones has emerged as a road safety problem as drivers or road users are distracted while operating a vehicle where they fail to remain in their lanes, stop at traffic signals and obey the traffic signs.

“... The use of handheld devices has caused more traffic fatalities or other traffic related incidents where motorist talking on cell phones drive as badly as if they were drunk.

“As we know the amount of accidents has impacted family members, impacted our health care, impacted our many agencies as relates to families losing loved ones and some people still have disabilities as a result of road traffic accidents.”