Sad findings about how lives are lost on the asphalt, especially young children, were made yesterday in a discussion organized by the Traffic Department of the Police Headquarters and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), in the framework of the Cyprus Presidency of the EU.
In the last three years (2023-2025), 120 of our fellow human beings have been lost, half of whom, as shown by the data cited in the discussion, were under the age of 24. The discussion focused on young drivers and vehicle occupants and the measures to be taken, while European Transport Safety Council spokesperson Jenny Carson said that Cyprus is the 3rd worst country in Europe for deaths of young people under the age of 24 in 2023, while it is the second with the highest rate of deaths of young people from road accidents with a rate of 27%, when at the same time the average in the 27 EU countries was 18%.
According to the data presented by the director of the Traffic Police, Haris Evripidou, in 2023 34 people were killed in road collisions, in 2024 41 and in 2025 45. The seriously injured in the three-year period 2023-2025 amounted to 725 and the slightly injured to 1349. According to Mr. Evripidou, the goal on the basis of the 2021-2030 strategic plan is to reduce road deaths to 26 from 45 last year. This reduction is estimated to be achieved by taking a series of measures aimed at preventing serious road traffic collisions.
Another important parameter that emerged is that 61% of fatal accidents occur in residential areas, 26% on interurban roads and 13% on highways.
The first cause of road deaths for the last three years remains careless driving/distraction with 21.1%, followed by alcohol consumption with a percentage of 12.4% and the third cause is non-compliance with the left side of the road (entering the opposite direction of traffic). The same percentage is the number of deaths caused by drivers who are positive for drug use. The main causes of fatalities are incorrect pedestrian crossing, speeding and turning right without proper attention.
Sad findings about how lives are lost on the asphalt, especially young children, were made yesterday in a discussion organized by the Traffic Department of the Police Headquarters and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), in the framework of the Cyprus Presidency of the EU.
According to the data presented by the director of the Traffic Police, Haris Evripidou, in 2023 34 people were killed in road collisions, in 2024 41 and in 2025 45. The seriously injured in the three-year period 2023-2025 amounted to 725 and the slightly injured to 1349. According to Mr. Evripidou, the goal on the basis of the 2021-2030 strategic plan is to reduce road deaths to 26 from 45 last year. This reduction is estimated to be achieved by taking a series of measures aimed at preventing serious road traffic collisions.
Another important parameter that emerged is that 61% of fatal accidents occur in residential areas, 26% on interurban roads and 13% on highways.
The first cause of road deaths for the last three years remains careless driving/distraction with 21.1%, followed by alcohol consumption with a percentage of 12.4% and the third cause is non-compliance with the left side of the road (entering the opposite direction of traffic). The same percentage is the number of deaths caused by drivers who are positive for drug use. The main causes of fatalities are incorrect pedestrian crossing, speeding and turning right without proper attention.
The numbers for the dead motorcyclists and pedestrians are sad. In the three-year period 2023-2025, 30% of the dead were vehicle drivers, 26.7% were motorcyclists and 21.7% were pedestrians. If cyclists are also counted in the category of two-wheelers, then the total percentage exceeds the victims who were in vehicles. In the same period of time we had 30 serious injuries of people under the age of 24 using electric scooters and 80 injuries of young people riding a motorcycle.
General disobedience by drivers
Important conclusions are also drawn from the position of Haris Christodoulou, head of the Committee on Legislation, Policing, Traffic Code, Road Safety Council. According to him, there is a general disobedience to traffic rules, while the main challenges in Road Safety are:
• The vast majority of deaths and serious injuries from road collisions are recorded on urban roads.
• Extremely high rate of fatal collisions and serious injuries for motorcyclists and moped drivers.
• Extremely high rate of fatal collisions and serious injuries of young male drivers.
• Very high rate of fatal collisions of foreigners living in Cyprus.
• Very high rate of fatal collisions by pedestrians and especially elderly pedestrians.
Regarding the axes of action to reduce deaths and serious injuries, the amendment of the legislation and increased policing, the training and examination of candidate drivers, the information and awareness of the public and the intensification of traffic education courses in schools are mentioned. A proposal is also made for safer road infrastructure and safer vehicles. Immediate response after a road collision can save lives, while it is also recommended to conduct research on Road Safety.
The numbers for the dead motorcyclists and pedestrians are sad. In the three-year period 2023-2025, 30% of the dead were vehicle drivers, 26.7% were motorcyclists and 21.7% were pedestrians. If cyclists are also counted in the category of two-wheelers, then the total percentage exceeds the victims who were in vehicles. In the same period of time we had 30 serious injuries of people under the age of 24 using electric scooters and 80 injuries of young people riding a motorcycle.
As far as the measures for drivers are concerned, they are being implemented or a recommendation is made for their introduction, such as changing the training and examination of candidate drivers, the adoption of an electronic theoretical examination to obtain a driver's license, the revocation of a driver's license for driving offenses under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The modernization of the legislation for instructors and training schools for candidate drivers was also promoted, while improvements were made to the system for issuing a health certificate for drivers. At the same time, there is a subsidy for motorcycle safe driving programs, while the most important thing is the promotion of the re-issuance of the Road Traffic Code (K.O.K.).
New ambulance stations should be built
Regarding the issue of response after a road collision, a proposal is made for the creation of new ambulance stations in specific areas, in order to minimize the arrival time of the ambulance at the site of the road collision. There is also continuous training of ambulance crews. Recently the rescuer was introduced as part of the ambulance crew, and the immediate response services have been equipped with specialized means.
