Filenews 28 January 2021 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The speed limit on some roads within cities is further reduced because they have been included in the sustainable mobility programme.
The issue was discussed the day before yesterday at the Road Safety Council in which it was reported that certain roads in cities that have been redeveloped with a focus on pedestrians and less vehicles, continue to have a speed limit of 50 km. This, as has been stressed, poses risks, since these roads are very narrow and a large mass of pedestrians is on the pavements, since according to the plans more emphasis is placed on the public instead of passing vehicles.
As such roads are Stasikratos in Nicosia and Angora in Limassol, which is an extension of Agios Andreos, where after renovation the sidewalks have grown and reduced the road surface which is noted to be on the same level as that of the sidewalks.
The Road Safety Council intends to send a letter to all municipalities of Cyprus to ask whether there are other roads for which it is appropriate to reduce the speed limit to 30 km. It should be noted that as new roads are designed within city centres, it is not suitable for high speeds as they pose risks to both pedestrians and drivers.
It is noted that today the 30 km limit applies only outside schools and at a distance of 20 meters from a traffic junction. On all other roads within the cities, 50 km remains. while on some avenues the 65 km. In order to reduce or increase the speed limit on a road or more generally, a decision should be taken by the Road Safety Council.
Recently the Council decided to reduce the tolerance rate for exceeding the speed limit from 20% in force to 10%, in order to reduce speeds in cities, since it has been found that most road deaths in Cyprus occur within cities. In fact, our country is one of the worst in Europe in this regard. According to data for the past year, only four people have died on motorways out of a total of 48 killed. The rest went out either on the secondary road network or within the cities. This is mainly due to frequent traffic controls on major motorways, which is not the case to the same extent on the secondary road network.
