Filenews 8 January 2025
After two years of a significant reduction in fatal road crashes, last year's was a setback, with a 22% increase in fatalities.
The increase is attributed to many factors, but the alarm bell that rang last October after the repeated deaths on the roads, drew drivers and competent bodies who took measures and saved lives. The year could have gone worse if the same pace continued and the control campaigns by the Traffic Police, which made its appearance on the roads following instructions from the competent minister, were not intensified.
In the year just left, 41 human lives were lost on the asphalt, compared to 34 in 2023, a year that is considered to have lost the fewest lives in road accidents since statistics are kept. The decrease in fatalities in road collisions began in 2022 and was attributed to the operation of the photo-tagging system, with drivers complying on roads, slowing down and being careful at light-controlled intersections at which cameras were installed.
The decline in '23 was also attributed to cameras in conjunction with other measures such as targeted campaigns, the creation of the "Z" team (motorcyclists) and awareness campaigns. In 2024 there seems to have been a relaxation of drivers who essentially defied the cameras. Two factors contributed to this, according to the police:
Firstly, the fact that one in two drivers who were denounced did not go to collect their bill, so they consider that they may be illegal and have no repercussions and, secondly, the many bills by MPs in relation to the reduction of extrajudicial fees or changes to the system, have largely cancelled the photo-labelling and the reasons why the state will pay €36 million to a private company that installed and operates it. Out-of-court fees are reduced while at the same time penalty points for losing one's driving license are increased, plus the fact that half of them did not go to collect the extrajudicial one, contributed to the relaxation on the streets.
This is evidenced by the fact that complaints about exceeding the speed limit and crossing red lights increased in '24. While in the first two years of the cameras' operation the trend was to reduce complaints about red, last year illegalities were increased.
As the assistant head of the Traffic Police Haris Evripidou told "F", in '24 the following phenomenon is observed: While fatal road collisions compared to '23 are almost the same (36 last year, 35 last year), however, in the year that just left, a quadruple fatal and a triple occurred that automatically increased the fatalities by seven more. There were also 3-4 fatalities that were not justified, namely overturning a tractor, deliberately driving against a pedestrian, trying to stop a driver from stopping his vehicle that was moving alone, etc. The 41 dead in '24 do not include the 19-year-old who was killed by the takata airbag in the Frenarus area and the driver who was burned in his vehicle.
According to a first report by the Traffic Police, the first cause of fatal road collisions last year was careless and negligent driving, mostly due to the use of a mobile phone. Many drivers died or caused deaths because they had the bad habit of trying to send a message or do something else from their mobile phone. The second cause is speeding, followed by careless pedestrian intersections and failure to wear a seat belt or helmet.
Great is the tribute we paid to pedestrians and motorcyclists but also to drivers or passengers because they did not wear the seat belt.
The positive of last year, according to Mr. Evripidou, is that in December there were no fatalities on the asphalt, which is the first time this has happened and this is attributed to the increased measures taken to check drivers for speed, seat belt, helmet and mobile phone, but also the realization that danger lurks everywhere.
The two multiple road accidents of the year
The New Year's tragedy in Limassol, where a whole family was lost, with four people killed in the horrific accident.
The accident of November 17, where three young children lost their lives when the vehicle they were riding in in the area of Kokkinochoria, collided with another.
After the increase in deaths on the roads recorded until October, came the proposal of the Police to increase extrajudicial fines for specific violations, such as not wearing a belt and helmet, using a mobile phone and removing license plates from motorcycles. The increase of extrajudicial fees by €50 from today has been accepted by the Road Safety Council and a relevant bill will be sent to Parliament.
Also pending in Parliament is a proposal from MP Chrysanthos Savvides, who proposes the withdrawal of driving licenses from young drivers who test positive in a breathalyzer test, even if the alcohol level is below the legal limit. The proposal is aimed at drivers with less than three years' experience, with the aim of preventing any dangerous behaviour at the wheel.
Half of the out-of-court documents were not received
A headache for the Traffic Police and the co-competent ministries is the undeliverable extrajudicial cases coming from the cameras of the Traffic Police.
In the three years of operation of the system, 615,000 infringements were recorded, but almost half of the extrajudicial offences were not received or were not able to be served on offending drivers. According to the assistant head of the Traffic Police, all fixed cameras have been installed and there is only one pending issue where the quadruple fatality took place a year ago.
It is estimated that 257,906 out-of-court cases are registered in 2024. Of these, 143,447 have not been served. 96,968 were paid out of court while 17,491 remain unpaid.
For the first two years of operation of the cameras, 357,870 violations have been recorded and 279,751 have been issued out of court. Of these, 233,572 have been paid, while another 42,179 remain unpaid, meaning they will be brought to justice. If we add to this year's cases, then the total number of registered extrajudicial cases reaches 613,776 out of court, while there is a significant number that has not been clarified. It is estimated that more than 250,000 extrajudicial cases remain orphans, since offenders either received a notice and did not receive them or were not located.
Mr. Evripidou noted that announcements are coming soon for those who do not receive their extrajudicial receipt, since in consultation with the Legal Service, all cases that will not take care of the payment of the extrajudicial fee will go to court. It is the last chance given to those who have broken the law to pay them out of court, otherwise they will go to court. Those who do not receive it will find it either at the airport, at ports or wherever a police officer comes in front of them, he concluded.
