Vexed Bermoothes

Late last year, Bermuda instituted a “points system” for driving offenses. It was a good move – and a long time in the coming.

Curiously, there has been little in the way of explanation by Government or in the media regarding how the system works. Here are some details, taken from the Traffic Offenses (Penalties) Amendment Act 2005 [pdf]:

• The Act defines a range of points for various driving offenses. For first offenses you get the minimum, for subsequent offenses more points may be taken. The points are additional to other punishments (for example, some offenses have their own additional “off-the-road” penalties) .
• Points expire 2 years after the date of recording for the conviction to which they correspond.
• When you reach 12 points you automatically get taken off the road for all motor vehicles. The suspension is for at least 6 months, and continues until enough points expire so that your total active points are fewer than 12.

This system will probably increase the number of license suspensions in Bermuda, as many of offenses seem to be calibrated such that “two strikes and you’re off.” For example, failure to wear a seatbelt levies the same number of points (5-7) as failing to stop after an accident (first offense).

• I am unsure where a driver may confirm their up-to-date points status.
• I am unsure if a driver’s demerit status is shared with the local motor insurers. That would be valuable information in rating a driver’s risk and perhaps help to tame the soaring cost of vehicle insurance in Bermuda.
• I am unsure if the system will allow more offenses to be settled through simple payment of fines, or if the courts will still be clogged with basic traffic offenses. For years there was a “coming soon” link for online payment of traffic tickets on the Government website; it’s faded away now.

Government justified the cost of the new RFID system by saying that it would help them recoup $11 million in lost registration fees over five years. However, that mission of catching TCD dropouts has already been expanded to include catching trucks who are traveling in restricted areas during rush hour (a good idea, but beware the mission creep).

I predict that the RFID system will be leveraged to automate the ticketing for more and more offenses. Ka-ching for Government, but more points for you!