Police carrying out roadside checks

Drivers throughout the districts this week will have noticed police checkpoints on some major roads.

According to Royal Cayman Islands Police Service spokeswoman Jacqueline Carpenter, the checks are part of an ongoing operation to improve road safety.

Ms. Carpenter said police were on the lookout for expired registration coupons, tinted windows and expired temporary license plates, among other infractions.

“The temporary plates should have been changed out by now,” she said, referring to temporary license numbers that were issued by the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing as it prepared to introduce its new electronic vehicle registration system.

Police officers are also stopping drivers for talking on their mobile phones while driving, she said.

The RCIPS is working with the Rotary Clubs of Grand Cayman on the “Share the Road” safety initiative and is handing out fliers about the campaign to drivers at checkpoints. Officers are also giving drivers some other reminders of the Share the Road campaign, such as fridge magnets and air fresheners.

Police Media Officer Jodi-Ann Powery displays some ‘Share the Road’ fliers during a police check point on West Bay Road Monday.

“We are reminding people that the road is a communal space,” Ms. Carpenter said.

She said the police were “moving around quite a bit” to cover wide areas of the island and also to ensure that the operation, which began Monday, was a highly visible one.

Police Media Officer Jodi-Ann Powery, who was on the road with the officers Monday, said that the RCIPS was using the ongoing operation “as an educational opportunity, but enforcing certain things we determine are a nuisance,” such as tinted windows and talking on mobile devices while driving.