By Raymond Hainey

Copyright caymancompass

Pedestrian crossings marked by orange flashing lights should be replaced with UK and US-style “green man” traffic lights, a woman who witnessed the grim aftermath of a roads death at the weekend has said.

Alyson Mora left the Palm Heights hotel just after Paulo Pillas, a bartender at the hotel, and a co-worker were struck by a white Dodge pick-up truck as they pushed a trolley over a pedestrian crossing on West Bay Road.

Pillas, who was 37, was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor. The other staff member, who has not been identified, suffered serious injuries and is still in hospital.

The driver of the truck was arrested at the scene on suspicion of drink driving.

The incident happened at the crossing outside the hotel, across the road from the former Lone Star bar, at about midnight on 13 Sept.

Mora, who was at an event in the hotel, said she comforted a friend who had seen the impact and called emergency services.

She added, “I came down pretty soon after it happened. It was a friend who called 911 and she was super cut up about it.”

Mora said the present system of orange flashing lights at either side of a crossing was not good enough.

“I think it’s so dangerous. Even in the daytime, I’ve seen a lot near misses with cars screeching to a halt,” she said. “I don’t think it’s safe for the cars and I don’t think it’s safe for the pedestrians.”

With the current crosswalk system, people often press the button on the pole for the lights to start blinking and then immediately start crossing.

“Cars can be going at normal speed and have to stop suddenly, so cars can easily go into the back of them,” Mora said. “I really want to do something to upgrade the crossing to the safe type. The ones with the ‘green man’ that don’t expect traffic to stop so abruptly.”

Pillas’s sister was making the sad journey to Cayman from the Philippines on Tuesday 16 Sept. to take the body of the father-of-one back to their homeland for burial.

Freshy Vales, Pillas’s girlfriend, who also works in Cayman, said on Facebook, “He was a great son, a devoted father, a hardworking employee, a loving partner, a dear friend, and a brother to many.”

Leonardo Mariotti, the general manager of Palm Heights, said the hotel’s staff were still in shock.

“Paulo was a universally loved and respected member of our team,” he said. “He came to work with a smile and he will be missed by all of us. He was a heck of a guy, always smiling and always willing to help people.

“We are all devastated. There is no other way to describe it. It was so sudden.”

A fundraiser to help cover Pillas’s family’s expenses and help support his son has been set up. Mariotti said 100 per cent of donations would go to the family as all fees had been waived.

The donations page can be found at https://paulo-fundraiser.caymangateway.online/.

Pillas’s death is the fourth fatality on the roads so far this year.