PARLIAMENT is assessing a new bill that will offer motorists with over eight points on their licence the opportunity to have three points deducted by going back to driving school.
According to Traffic Police Chief Demetris Demetriou, who yesterday presented the proposed law to the House Communications Committee, the bill suggests the implementation of a new system of training seminars, which people with over eight points on their licence can attend.
Once they have completed the seminars and passed a special exam, they will have three points deducted from their licence.
The measure, which was drafted by the police in cooperation with the Communications Ministry, can only be used every three years.
“We hope the drivers will get into these seminars will improve their driving skills and avert serious accidents,” said Demetriou.
Although the exact details of the seminars has not yet been figured out, the basic aim is to help reduce road fatalities and serious injuries.
During yesterday’s session, Demetriou also informed deputies on the progress police were making in their efforts to reduce road fatalities. The aim is to meet the EU’s goal of halving road fatalities across the block by the year 2010.
According to Demetriou, there has been a 26 per cent reduction in road deaths from January 1 to date, compared to the corresponding period last year.
More specifically, there have been 14 fatal road accidents this year so far, resulting in 17 deaths. During the same period last year, there were 21 accidents with 23 fatalities.
“There are two main sectors we need to centre our attention on: youths under the age of 25 and foreigners,” Demetriou explained. “From the 17 fatalities we have had so far, 10 of those were youths and seven were foreigners, which means that 37 per cent were youths and 33 per cent were foreigners.”
The head of traffic said the police, in cooperation with the Road Transport Department, were planning a number of measures to improve the situation. Leaflets have been printed in six different languages, while special road signs have been installed to remind tourists to drive on the left-hand side.
The police have also stepped up measures to reduce the number of youths being killed on the island’s roads. “We have increased alcohol checks and we have increased the number of overtime hours that are worked for this reason,” said Demetriou. “Before, officers used to work from 5pm until 5am but now, this has changed to 5pm until 7am, when most young drivers are caught driving under the influence of alcohol.”
This, he said, had resulted in a dramatic increase in reported cases of drink-driving.
Committee Chairman Zacharias Koulias of DIKO said he was satisfied with the progress police were making in reducing road deaths.
“But there has been a 19 per cent increase in serious injuries from road accidents this year, which is something that needs to be looked into,” said Koulias. “According to the statistics presented to us today, from 2004 until 2008, there have been 476 road fatalities. An entire Cypriot community has disappeared.”
Koulias said the Committee had viewed the new bill – for deducting penalty points – in a positive light.
