Three people have been identified in a pair of recent deadly crashes. The woman killed in a car crash caught on camera in Yigo was 30-year-old Jackueline Bebout. And the pair killed in a car crash in Asan on August 6 were identified as 51-year-old Neil Dolor and 87-year-old Juliet Dolor.

The recent rash of traffic fatalities and vehicle pile-ups has put a spotlight on the dangers lurking on Guam's roadways. What's behind the chronic accidents, and what can be done to make driving on Guam safer?

It's an unfortunate, and all too familiar sight:  the Guam Police Department's Highway Patrol Division officers responding to a traffic accident, with too many of them involving fatalities. For an island this small, the number of vehicle mishaps seems out of proportion.

KUAM News asked Police Chief Steve Ignacio and Department of Public Works director Vince Arriola about that. They say speed, especially in fatal crashes, is often the biggest factor.

"In looking at some of our statistics for fatal car crashes, what's still happening is speed is really a big contributing factor," the chief said. "You know, people are driving way over the speed limit. You know on Guam our maximum posted speed limit is 35. When not posted the maximum speed is 45. But we've pretty much adopted a 35 mile per hour maximum speed for the entire island and you know people are just going too fast."

Arriola added, "With smooth roads come increased speeds – that's just the way it is. You have a pretty degraded road with a lot of potholes the speeds are going to come down simply because they want to save their car; it's just not comfortable driving on a bumpy road. If you get on a nice smooth piece of road, your speeds are going to go up because it's nice and smooth."

Police statistics show that along with speed the other most common contributing factors are alcohol, drugs and road and weather conditions. But DPW's director says, quite bluntly, there's one more glaring factor.

"The one thing we can keep stressing though is that our Guam drivers, and I know I've said this publicly at the Guam Legislature is that our Guam drivers - we don't have good drivers. We just don't," he stated.

DPW's Office of Highway Safety and GPD's Highway Patrol Division regularly coordinate safe driving campaigns.  But there's just so much they can do.

They say it really comes down to individual responsibility. Chief  Ignacio said, "Being on the road and driving a vehicle is a big responsibility and it can cost people's lives. So be mindful of that. Obey the speed limit, don't drink and drive and buckle up."