HARSHER penalties for traffic violations are set to be passed by the House of Representatives next week, with police insisting they will help save lives on the island’s roads.
The Ministry of Communications wants to push new laws through parliament that would make wearing rear seat belts obligatory. They have proposed to increase fines for failure to wear a seat belt, for using a mobile phone at the wheel, and for riding a motorbike without a helmet, from the current £30 to £50.
Many European countries are currently experiencing significant falls in road fatalities, put down to a crackdown on seat belt use. In the UK, a 20 per cent drop in road-related deaths over the last few years has been largely attributed to tougher seat belt regulations.
With 56 deaths on the roads in Cyprus this year alone, the island has the third most dangerous roads in Europe, tailed by only Portugal and Greece. The police hope that tougher measures in Cyprus will help cure drivers of bad habits and greatly improve road safety.
Nevertheless, police statistics show that however beneficial safety precautions may be, Cypriot motorists often fail to adhere to them.
Eighty seven per cent of those killed in road accidents were not wearing seat belts and 91 per cent of motorbike riders killed were not wearing a helmet.
Traffic Police Inspector Demetris Demetriou, who heads statistical research on these issues, believes that the increased fines will bring down the number of recorded offences.
Each week, police book about 600 people for not wearing seat belts and 40 motorcyclists for not wearing a helmet, he told the Cyprus Mail.
"In my opinion, there has been a criminal delay by the government to bring in new traffic safety legislation, which has cost the lives of many people as a result," said another advocate of the new legislation, Diko deputy Dr Marios Matsakis.
Matsakis, a former state pathologist who has carried out countless autopsies on road traffic victims, affirmed that rear seat passengers usually died after being thrown out of windows in an accident – much more likely if they do not wear a belt.
"As a pathologist, I have no hesitation to say that rear seat belts will save lives," he concluded.
The bill enforcing rear-seat safety belts is expected to be approved by the Cabinet and go before the House plenum on July 6.
Matsakis submitted legislation to ensure motorists put children in appropriate child seats to the Parliamentary Committee on public transport this spring.
