By Andrea Sophocleous
THE POLICE has launched a plan to reduce the number of traffic accidents on the island through the introduction of tougher regulations, including a doubling of the fine for not wearing a seat belt.
Police chief Panikos Hadjiloizou announced yesterday that police would soon enforce measures designed to reduce traffic accidents by 10 per cent.
Speaking at a press conference outlining the new measures, Hadjiloizou began by pointing out that six people had died in fatal accidents last week alone.
He stressed that there has been an increase in road deaths in recent years; this year there have been 38 fatal accidents with 43 deaths, whereas in the same period last year there had been just 28 fatal accidents in which 34 people were killed.
He added that there had been over 60,000 recorded traffic offenses this year.
New measures to be enforced in the latest crackdown on traffic offenders include an increase in the fine for not using helmets and seat belts, and for unnecessary pollution and noise from exhausts.
Other road safety measures being considered for Parliamentary approval include a points system for drivers’ licences, toughening helmet regulations and expanding them to apply to bicycle riders, and ensuring unhindered steering by cracking down on the use of mobile phones at the wheel.
The police is also considering measures that have proved effective overseas, such as speed and red light cameras, lowering the drink-drive limit, compulsory use of tachometers in lorries and buses that would prevent them from exceeding the speed limit, banning those who have been driving for less than three years from driving motorcycles of 500cc and above, and an increase of on-the-spot fines for traffic offences from ?50 to ?100 pounds.
The police chief also announced that from today the police traffic division would increase by 30 personnel, and the ranks of traffic headquarters in Nicosia would be swollen by an additional 40 personnel. These will come from the ranks of political bodyguards whose numbers were recently reduced by the government.
Traffic Division chief George Voudnos added that “this increase in personnel gives us the opportunity to plan and enforce a new, more effective, system of traffic rules.”
