Filenews 21 September 2021
A large-scale traffic control operation was carried out in Limassol by members of the Police, in cooperation with members of the Police of the British Bases and with the assistance of officers of the Road Transport Department – TMM, and the Department of Labour Inspection. Today's operation is part of the actions of the European Mobility Week and the road safety programme "ROADPOL Safety Days 2021", the European Traffic Police Network, which aims to prevent serious and fatal road collisions, to establish road awareness and to increase safety on the road network.
With this year's ROADPOL Safety Days programme dedicated to tackling drivers' distraction phenomena while driving, particular emphasis has been placed during today's traffic checks on tackling the use of a mobile phone while driving, which is a major factor in driver distraction.
The focus of the checks was also on tackling offences that have been proven to be among the main causes of serious and fatal road collisions, such as exceeding the speed limit, failure to use a seat belt and a safety helmet, and traffic signs and traffic lights.
At the same time, specialized members of the Police, with the assistance of the officers of the Department of Road Transport and the Department of Labour Inspection, carried out checks on the mechanical condition of vehicles, including a number of trucks and buses, as well as the documents of vehicles and drivers, including professional drivers.
Of the offences found and reported, the 56 complaints about the use of a mobile phone, 90 complaints about exceeding the speed limit, 48 complaints about the non-use of a seat belt and the non-use of a protective helmet by motorcyclists, and 60 complaints about violations of traffic signs and traffic lights stand out.
Also notable are the 15 complaints about driving a vehicle without a certificate of fitness – MTO, the six complaints of drivers not covered by an insurance certificate, the three complaints of drivers who do not hold a driving licence, and the 46 complaints about driving a vehicle without a registration certificate. Four other drivers were reported for driving vehicles declared to the TMM as immobilized, four drivers were terminated after the registration of their vehicles had been deleted, and a driver was reported after driving an unregistered vehicle.
During the mechanical condition checks of the vehicles, five trucks were found to be unsuitable for road use and their certificates of suitability were revoked by TFT officers, while one violation of the conditions for the registration of a truck was also found. Another 12 vehicles were identified with mechanical failures and corresponding written observations were issued to drivers to correct the condition of their vehicles.
Finally, the inspections revealed 112 infringements concerning the use of tachographs by drivers of heavy goods vehicles.
Today's inspection operation began at 6.00 a.m. and ended at 6.00pm. Members of the Traffic Police Headquarters Department took part and specifically, members of the Road Accident Prevention Unit - OPOD, the Special Team of Motorcyclists – EOM, the Avdimos Team, and the Mechanical Control Branch of the Traffic Headquarters.
