Cyprus has high number of young road deaths

Cyprus is second in the EU when it comes to fatal road accidents that involve young people, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Tuesday at a seminar on road safety.
He said that 35.9 per cent of the people who died in road accidents this year were aged 25 or under.
So far in 2014, 39 deaths were recorded in 38 road accidents and 14 of the victims were aged between 14 and 25.
“These unpleasant statistics make the general mobilisation of society necessary in our struggle to educate current and especially young drivers,” Nicolaou said.
He said that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) road accidents are estimated to be the third largest cause of death by 2020 and that the government is determined to drastically reduce them by adopting the European goal of a 50 per cent reduction of victims by 2020.
“The complexity of the problem of road accidents and its social dimension dictate collective efforts and the involvement of all social carriers so that the desired results are achieved,” Nicolaou said.
He urged every driver to reflect on the consequences of reckless driving and set a good example to new drivers.
In July alone, seven people died in a week from different road accidents including two 20 year-olds and two teenagers.

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