Filenews 28 December 2022
Our country records the fewest deaths from road traffic collisions since the data kept by the Traffic Police, which is encouraging for the efforts of all the services involved to continue and intensify.
Three days before he leaves in 2022 and we count 37 dead on the asphalt, eight fewer than last year. The 37 souls lost on the streets only cause grief, but there is also the encouraging fact that for the first time such a decrease is recorded, since the immediately previous "best" year in 2012 had left behind 44 dead. The Traffic Department of the Police Headquarters, through its assistant director Haris Evripidou, clearly attributes the record decrease in the total number of deaths on the roads, to photo-tagging. "We did not do as traffic police and as competent services something different or something else that we did not do in recent years in terms of road collision prevention. What happened this year, compared to all the other years, is the arrival of the Traffic Police cameras", emphasizes Mr. Evripidou.
The advent and operation of even a small number of fixed and mobile cameras, acted as a catalyst for this encouraging reduction in deaths on the roads, explains the assistant director of the Traffic Police. According to him, the mere fact that drivers know that at any time they can break the law, they can be recorded by the cameras, brought about greater compliance with the illegalities on the roads, hence the positive results where lives were saved.
Mr. Evripidou says that the greatest compliance observed is in the development of speed, since drivers now move at lower speeds, drive more carefully and comply with the Highway Code. As he notes, the decrease in fatalities observed this year concerns vehicle drivers, since this year 10 driver deaths were recorded compared to 20 last year (a decrease of 50%) and 16 in 2020. A small decrease in asphalt victims is also seen in motorcycle drivers, as this year nine deaths are recorded, compared to 11 last year and 13 in 2020.
Serious injuries as a result of road collisions also appear to be decreasing, but the data have not yet been extracted. Mr. Evripidou was categorical as to whether the arrival of the cameras automatically takes the Traffic Police off the roads. As he points out, the experience of other countries that have installed photo-tagging systems for years and reduced the physical presence of police officers on the streets, has shown that it has not brought the desired results. Human intervention on the road network is needed, even if the cameras help reduce road collisions, he said, adding that if a driver is recorded by the cameras at a very high speed, it will be detected after a month or two. But if he is caught by members of the Traffic Police, he will be immediately taken to court to answer.
Finally, he mentioned that now the Traffic Police will focus on alcohol and drug tests that the cameras cannot control.
Limassol: Sad first of deaths
The sad first in deaths in accidents is Limassol, which shows an increase of four deaths. From the nine deaths recorded in 2021, this year they increased to 13. However, Nicosia records a significant decrease in road collision victims, since from the 14 victims last year, this year they decreased to eight. The district of Paphos is also recording a decrease in deaths on the roads this year, since out of the nine dead last year, five were recorded this year. In Larnaca, the situation remained unchanged since this year and last year six of our fellow human beings lost their lives (per year). In the free province of Famagusta, five fatal road collisions were recorded this year while in 2021 six, while in the province of Morphou no life was lost this year compared to one dead in a car accident last year.
Regarding the condition of the victims, 10 were drivers of vehicles and another four passengers, another nine were motorcycle drivers, two motorcycle passengers, four bicycles, six pedestrians and one electric scooter driver.
The saddest thing is that of the 14 dead this year on the asphalt (drivers and passengers) only four were wearing a seatbelt. The remaining nine did not, while for one it is unknown whether he was attached to the belt. As for the 12 dead motorcyclists and passengers, only five wore a helmet, while the remaining seven did not. Also, six of the 12 asphalt victims on a motorcycle, i.e. 50%, were under the age of 25.
