Filenews 17 August 2024
Ten more deaths compared to last year are counted so far this year, with the Traffic Police trying to reverse the situation over the next five months with more intensive targeted checks and informing drivers and pedestrians. The great concern of the Traffic Police officials concerns three causes of road collisions.
While it appears that the photo-tagging system is working and the death toll for drivers who are constantly monitored by fixed and mobile cameras is reduced, however, in 2024 until today, there is an increase in pedestrian and motorcyclist deaths. As the assistant head of the Traffic Department at the Police Headquarters, Haris Evripidou, told "F", it has been observed at the same time from the analysis of all data this year, that the main cause of road accidents involving a vehicle is the use of a mobile phone. These observations have been recorded and a huge effort will now be made to reduce fatalities by the end of the year.
According to traffic police data, this year there were 24 fatal road collisions with 27 victims (including the quadruple New Year's fatal in Limassol) while last year during the same period 16 fatalities with 17 victims were recorded. In other words, there is an increase of 10 fatalities compared to last year and this is due to the increase in pedestrians and motorcyclists. Specifically, until today, seven pedestrians have died on Cypriot roads and according to Mr. Evripidou, five were lost at their own risk, that is, they crossed a road without taking the necessary precautions. Last year, seven pedestrians were also killed throughout the year, which is why the Traffic Police have highlighted this issue and are trying through updates and campaigns to raise public awareness to be very careful when attempting to cross a road.
The other category of road users who pay a heavy price are motorcyclists. This year we had seven fatalities and that is why a bell rang to the Traffic Police who instructed the provincial Traffic Police and Directorates to focus their efforts on checking motorcyclists and informing them about the dangers that lurk because they are considered a vulnerable group.
As the Traffic Police officer explained, both pedestrians and motorcyclists are not actually controlled by the cameras of the Traffic Police, so other actions are being taken to inform them about how to intersect a road, mainly on highways, or how motorcyclists should move. It is clarified that motorcycles are controlled by the system, but some drivers alter their registration numbers or do not carry any numbers at all, resulting in ineffective control. "Photo-labelling, says Mr. Evripidou, has helped to reduce casualties with the involvement of vehicles, since generally speeds on the roads have decreased. Now efforts are focused on pedestrians and motorcyclists, plus the bad habit of mobile phone use by vehicle drivers while driving," he adds.
As has been observed from the analysis of the traffic problem that takes place every month, drivers are killed with the first cause of death being careless and negligent driving. This, the assistant traffic police officer observed, is due to the fact that many drivers, while getting behind the wheel, use their mobile phone at the same time. The analysis of the data has revealed the following shocking: Half of the fatalities are due to this cause, that is, the driver had the bad habit of using his mobile phone while driving.
According to Mr. Evripidou, it appeared from the examinations on the mobile phones of victims that at the time of the accident the driver was either talking or trying to send a message.
Nicosia leads in deaths
It has been observed that most fatal accidents occurred without the involvement of a second vehicle, indicating that the driver died due to carelessness or distraction.
As the data show, the first district in fatalities is Nicosia with eight fatal accidents, followed by Larnaka with seven, Limassol with five, Famagusta two and Paphos and Morphou one each.
Also, of the 27 dead on the roads, seven were foreigners of whom six were permanent residents of Cyprus and only one tourist, who lost his life from overturning a quad bike in the Akamas area.
13 drivers or passengers without seat belts
Another issue that concerns the Traffic Police and the Police in general, is the fact that while everyone knows that wearing a seat belt saves lives, some do not wear it.
This year's figures show that 13 drivers or passengers were killed without wearing a seat belt. Five of them, the police official notes, would probably be alive today if they were fastened with a belt, since it appeared that their vehicles were only slightly damaged.
Most fatal road collisions took place in residential areas, especially towns and villages, in contrast to other European countries where most deaths occur on motorways. This year there were two fatalities on a motorway in Larnaka, as last year.
On the positive side this year is the fact that we did not have any dead cyclists or scooter drivers, while last year we had one dead cyclist and one who was traveling on a scooter, while in 2022 four cyclists were killed.
