Driving standards: don’t just blame mentality

Sir,

I read with interest the letter from GED, regarding driving home in Limassol in your edition of December 8.

I must add that the situation in Cyprus regarding standards of driving is beyond pathetic and well beyond the boundaries of reason.

I have often heard people say that it is a cultural phenomenon, which is just an easy excuse. My parents moved to the UK in their teens over 40 years ago, like hundreds of thousands of other Cypriots and they learnt to drive there just fine.

The problem is a lack of education, lack of proper policing and lack of proper deterrents from our courts.

The most upsetting thing for me as a parent is to see almost every child in a car here un-strapped, standing in between the back seats or even standing on the passenger seat! I have even seen children with their heads sticking out of sunroofs; all while the parent has their seat belt on!

It is a disgusting and painful thing to see. It denotes a lack of basic and fundamental knowledge of safety and common sense, and a blatant disregard for the well-being of children.
Let’s not even get into basic driving practice, use of driving code and etiquette.

M Evgeniou, Limassol

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.