Change of attitude needed by young drivers

YOUNG drivers need a serious change of attitude before they destroy their future, said Health Minister Stavros Malas yesterday after a visit to Nicosia General Hospital to hand out gifts to road accident victims.

“We have to be aware and understand that if we don’t change our own attitude when it comes to driving we will become top in Europe with the highest number of traffic accidents,” said Malas, who was accompanied on his visit by Communications Minister, Efthymios Flourentzos.

He also added that it was a shame to see young people getting hurt and scarring their lives in this way, citing speeding as one of the main causes.

“Young people should especially be careful and should follow traffic rules, so we don’t find ourselves in the unpleasant situation of having to visit those that have been injured from road traffic accidents like we have today,” said Flourentzos.

Malas pointed out that it comes at a high cost for the victims themselves as well as society. “It is with a heavy heart that we visit these patients,” said Malas, adding that if we do not change we will have to deal with the problem on a long-term basis.

So far 19 people under the age of 25 have died this year in a road traffic accident. Some 36 per cent of all those who died in road accidents over the last decade were under 25. Between 2001 and 2010 a total of 326 of under 25s were killed on the roads.

According to the State General Laboratory’s annual report for 2010, around 132 cases in general involving drink driving were investigated by the police after serious and fatal accidents. In 2010, out of these 132 cases around 33 per cent were found to have high blood alcohol levels, which was a drop from 39 per cent in 2009. The peak since 2002, according to the report was in 2005, with 50 per cent found to have a high level of alcohol in their bloodstream following a serious accident.

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