By Anthony O. Miller
THE COMMUNIST party Akel denies it is to blame for the moped-driver deaths that occurred during an Akel-sponsored, four-month suspension of the mandatory moped helmet law this summer, the party’s parliamentary Spokesman Andreas Christou said yesterday.
“It’s not Akel” that introduced, pushed and passed the July 14 measure that exempted moped drivers and riders from wearing protective helmets, Christou said. “Three parties together were against the helmet-use law,” he noted.
The law finally began to be implemented on Monday.
The moped helmet law was part of a new traffic law passed in June. It included fines for using mobile phones while driving, and for not wearing helmets on motorcycles and mopeds.
The law’s effective date was July 1, but the Police Department gave a 12- day “grace period” before enforcing it. Meanwhile, on July 14, “the majority voted for suspension” of the moped-helmet part of the law until November 1, Christou acknowledged.
“(But) Akel doesn’t have the majority in the Parliament. So it’s not Akel. It’s Akel, the Democratic Party (Diko) and other members of the Parliament” that voted to suspend implementation, he said. He did not identify these “other members.”
In fact, the Akel-sponsored four-month helmet law suspension was the first item on the agenda for the July 14, final Parliamentary Plenum session of the summer.
It was railroaded through on a 22-5 vote, while all the likely opponents of the motion were missing from the plenum chamber, including all but one of the deputies of the governing Disy party.
The sole protest against the measure in the plenum that morning was voiced by lone Disy Deputy Demetris Syllouris. But he was ignored in the 22-5 vote for the measure.
Akel had argued that moped-riding messengers would get too hot riding around under helmets in the summer sun, and that a four-month suspension of the law would give the House of Representatives time to reconsider its impact on moped users.
Traffic Police Chief George Voutounos openly opposed suspending the moped helmet law, warning the injury risk was clear “according to our statistics, which we sent to Parliament.”
“I strongly believe the driver of mopeds and the passenger must wear helmets,” Voutounos said at the time.
Diko Deputy Marios Matsakis, who had opposed suspending the helmet law, yesterday agreed with Voutounos’ claims that the numbers were there: “We told them so. We presented figures in the House,” he told the Cyprus Mail.
And Matsakis ridiculed Akel’s claim that the helmet was too heavy and too hot. “I took a modern helmet and showed them they’re not heavy, they’re not hot. Nothing. And even if they’re a little bit uncomfortable, they’re better than a split skull.”
“I predicted that there was going to be a large number of deaths,” said Matsakis, who is also a medical doctor. “In fact, I underestimated the number. I said I thought it was going to be something like six.”
Akel’s Christou questioned the Police Department’s statistics that show that 10 moped deaths occurred during the four-month suspension. And he further questioned whether not wearing helmets had been fatal to the 10 dead riders.
“I don’t agree with you that having helmets would have saved their lives,” Christou told the Cyprus Mail. And besides, he added, “it is not clear that these boys used mopeds and not motorcycles.”
However, Costas Kokkinolambos, Police Chief Inspector and Assistant Superintendent-Traffic, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that all 10 deaths indeed occurred on mopeds – three of them in built-up areas, seven elsewhere. The suspension of the law applied to built-up areas only.
Furthermore, he said, of the 10 moped deaths “from July 14 to October 31… for seven of these, the cause of death was severe head injuries.” None of the victims had worn safety helmets, he said.
“We believe that, had they used the safety helmet, some of these persons would have been around today. We would be talking to them,” Kokkinolambos said.
Matsakis agreed, adding that he had already issued “my own apologies to the families of those who died for any responsibility, collective or individual, which I might have – although I voted and I fought for the suspension not to be passed.”
Matsakis also mocked Akel’s July claim that the helmet law would never be followed anyway.
“Look around!” said Matsakis. “Everyone is wearing one. I’ve never seen so many people obeying the law before in my life. It’s amazing. It really is amazing. I’m so surprised, delighted to see so many people wearing them.”
In fact, since November 1, police have been issuing on-the-spot £30 tickets to all drivers and pillion riders of mopeds and motorcycles not wearing a helmet.
