Filenews 3 July 2021 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
Delivery men are to go through training by the Traffic Police, in an effort to know the rules of road safety and to be able to protect themselves.
Drivers working in the field of food deliveries, mainly on mopeds, are currently the most vulnerable group of drivers in Cyprus and every year more than 10 people are lost or seriously injured. As evidenced by accident tests involving delivery drivers, drivers of vehicles do not pay attention to food delivery drivers, thus cutting them off with appalling consequences. It has also been found that food delivery drivers are untrained, the majority of them only hold a student licence and their only protection is the helmet.
The Traffic Department recently contacted companies involved in food delivery but also with companies that produce food and deliver it to homes (mainly ready-to-eat chains) so that their distributors can go through road safety courses.
In the meantime, the transport ministry intends to amend the law on the acquisition of a moped licence, with the Department of Road Transport putting to public consultation a bill concerning an amendment to the Driving Licence Act.
As the Department of Road Transport states, there has been a legal ambiguity as to the criminalisation of the offence of driving without the possession of a 'normal' driving licence (not a student' licence) during work, after recruitment, employment or assignment or taking up work on the initiative of the driver himself. This is particularly evident in the everyday life of everyone in the field of delivery, since the driving of mopeds and motorcycles is observed extensively during, obviously, the driver's work, with the mark "E" (i.e. trainee) affixed e.g. to the box of products to be delivered. This is considered unacceptable, since the driver (and his direct or indirect employer or partner) cannot consider that the driver is driving and at the same time "training – learning" on his own driving a motor vehicle, in particular a two-wheel drive, on the road network. This is a major road safety issue.
