Drivers urged to drive more carefully after deadly 1999

TRAFFIC POLICE Chief George Voutounos yesterday urged drivers to be more careful to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragic traffic accident record.

Despite numerous police traffic safety campaigns last year, the number of fatal accidents has not been stemmed.

The death toll for 1999 was 112, one up on 1998’s total of 111.

“The problem remains serious and there should be an effort, especially from drivers to stem accidents,” Voutounos said.

Out of the 57 car drivers and passengers killed last year, only eight were wearing their seat belt, while only five out of the 32 killed on motorcycles and mopeds were wearing a helmet.

Speeding was listed as the cause of the most fatal accidents, with 25 dead, while reckless driving caused 12 deaths.

Fourteen motorists were killed last year driving on the wrong side of the road, and nine others from reckless overtaking.

Nine deaths were put down to driver inexperience, and nine to pedestrian carelessness.

Six drivers died while driving under the influence of alcohol. Nicosia police carried out 14,136 breathalyser tests last year, 393 of which led to prosecutions, Voutounos said yesterday.

Though overall deaths were up in 1999, the holiday period claimed fewer lives than in 1998, with five people killed between December 20 and January 2, down from the eight who died in the same period the previous year.

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