EU crackdown reveals lead-footed Cypriots

CYPRIOT drivers speed more their European counterparts, according to a report released yesterday by The European Road Traffic Network (TISPOL).

The report shows findings from a pan-European campaign to catch speeding European drivers in August.

Cyprus, perhaps unsurprisingly, had above the average number of speedsters when compared, inter alia, with a sample of 21 other countries.

In one week, 1,719 Cypriots were caught speeding, which is approximately two drivers per 1,000 people. The European average was 1.8.

However, a closer look at TISPOL’s figures indicate Cyprus’ drivers could be even more prone to speeding than their European counterparts.

TISPOL recorded two methods of catching drivers, police intervention and mechanical means (i.e. fixed cameras). However, Cyprus is one of only four EU countries that has no speed cameras, which means a large amount of speeding goes unchecked.

When we use the European average to estimate how many Cypriots might have been caught had there been cameras here, the figures is much higher.

On average, speed cameras catch 3.7 times as many drivers than policemen. Were cameras installed in Cyprus, the total figure could be over 8,000; Given the small size of the population this would place near to, if not at the top of, the European speeding chart.

The onus is therefore on traffic authorities to install speed cameras if they wish to fulfil their obligations to the European Road Safety Charter, which aims to halve fatal road accidents by 2010.

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.