Filenews 8 June 2021
"The condition of the vehicle is an important part of road safety and certainly every driver must keep his vehicle in excellent condition both for his own safety, his family and other road users," the Minister of Transport, Giannis Karousos, stressed at today's press conference.
The Minister was speaking in the context of the presentation of the results of the action "Friendly Road Safety Controls before the summer", co-organised by the Road Safety Council, the Department of Road Transport, the Bank of Cyprus and the Road Safety Unit of the Reaction Agency with the support of the members of the SupportCY Network.
This is followed by the Minister's speech:
It is with great pleasure that I welcome today's press conference to present the results of the action "Friendly Road Safety Checks Before Summer" co-organised by the Road Safety Council, the Department of Road Transport, the Bank of Cyprus and the Road Safety Unit of the Reaction Agency with the support of the members of the SupportCY Network.
The condition of the vehicle is an important part of road safety and surely every driver must keep his vehicle in excellent condition both for his own safety, his family and other road users. Damaged tyres, damaged lights, poor mechanical maintenance of a vehicle can cause a road collision and/or act as a catalyst in the outcome of the collision.
The Department of Road Transport of my Ministry, among other actions concerning road safety, often carry out targeted checks of various types of vehicles across the island. These checks will be intensified in order to raise drivers' awareness of the need to keep their vehicles well maintained in order to meet all safety requirements and thus have less chance of being involved in a road collision.
As part of the action "Friendly Road Safety Checks before the summer, checks were carried out on 1108 vehicles in Cyprus. Through the checks, it was found that 195 vehicles or 17.6% had at least one worn tyre. At the same time, 420 vehicles or 38% had problematic headlights and/or direction indicator lights and/or brake lights.
Through such initiatives and friendly controls, in vehicles circulating on the road network of our country, a form of aggressive prevention of traffic collisions is achieved. For example, 57 vehicles were identified as part of the friendly checks with a problem that the driver was not aware of (e.g. needle or tyre stroke, etc.). Whereas where possible, the problem was rectified in the areas of friendly checks e.g. incorrect tyre pressure.
An important element of this campaign and the results presented today is its contribution to the information actions of the coming days and until 30 June, for a targeted information and awareness of drivers based on real data, with the aim of achieving the maximum possible positive result.
I would like to thank the Bank of Cyprus, the Road Safety Unit of the Reaction Agency, as well as the members of the SupportCY Network: Petrolina/Bridgestone, Fotos Fotiadis Group, Mangas Home Improvements and AnconArt, for their contribution to the implementation of this action concerning our road safety. Thank you very much to the staff of the Department of Road Transport for their catalytic and decisive support for this road safety action as well as to the staff of the Road Safety Unit of the Road Safety Council who are a helper in all relevant actions.
In conclusion, I would like to call on all drivers of vehicles to take a few minutes today to carry out a check on the good condition of their vehicle. This summer, the only memories are the beautiful moments we spend with our family.
