Filenews 31 July 2025
More serious is the problem with the roads in various cities that are converted into speedy tracks either by vehicles or motorcycles, since, as we have been told, where there is space, young people are transported there for races.
The problem concerns all cities since the areas where roads or avenues, especially at night, become tracks, are known. In Nicosia, the Police have registered more than five areas. Apart from Larnaka Avenue in Aglantzia, where the fatal accident the day before yesterday took place with 20-year-old Kyriakos Antoniou as a victim, there are also clashes in the industrial area of Dalios, in the area of SOPAZ, in Lakatamia with the highway under the "Tsangalidis" lights up to the Archangelos interchange becoming a place for motorbike drivers to relax in the evenings as well as on Salaminos Avenue. Also, the parking lot of the Makarios Stadium becomes a track for maneuvers with modified vehicles.
Other areas that are being converted into speed tracks are Makariou Avenue in Limassol, the Kato Paphos area and elsewhere.
The problem is timeless and the Police emphasize that they are proceeding to targeted interventions and measures, but the young people are coming back. As it turns out, as soon as information is received about driver collisions, by the time the Police arrive, they disappear and return in a short time. Proof of this is Larnacos Avenue in Aglantzia, where 786 complaints were made in six months, most of them for speed, but the problem was not solved. As we were told, when the Municipality of Aglantzia filed a complaint with the Police or citizens complained about a vehicle rally, a patrol car was sent to the area. Mainly, however, the area was policed by vans with mobile cameras that recorded the vehicles that violated the speed limit. This measure did not work, since the fights continue and as a result an innocent child pays for it.
Both the Municipality of Nicosia and Aglantzia, in their letters to the Police, recorded that there is a serious problem: during the evening hours, there are very frequent car races at high speeds, which endangers the safety of residents as well as drivers moving in the area.
The problem must be examined globally and measures must be taken, as was done on Griva Digeni Avenue, where, in cooperation with Public Works, platforms and curves were installed, two fixed cameras were installed and the problem that plagued residents and passers-by for years, was solved.
