Five road deaths in July, police say continuing toll not changing driving habits

Police said on Sunday that with two road deaths in the past two days, and a total of five this month, plus two more people critically injured, that it did not seem the ongoing loss of life was impacting drivers to change their ways.

“This is unfortunately the conclusion we can draw from the statistics. In just the past 24 hours, more than 500 drivers were booked for speeding, while alcohol driving controls showed that one in five drivers had alcohol in their systems beyond the permissible limit,” a statement from the force said.

Some 517 drivers were caught speeding, it added in some cases the speed reached 150kph, 154kph, 163kph and 172kph on the highway but also 100kph in a residential area where the limit was 50.

With regard to driving under the influence of alcohol, out of the 466 drivers checked, 89 exceeded the permitted alcohol limit and were booked.

In the case of a 48-year-old driver in Limassol, his blood alcohol level reached 197mg instead of 22mg, the legal limit. The driver, police said had refused to take an initial breathalyser test and so was arrested.

In another case, in Paphos, a speeding driver tried to evade officers, who had signalled him to stop.  When they caught up with him and he was breathalysed, it showed alcohol levels of 102mg.

“Excessive speed and driving under the influence of alcohol, along with negligent and careless driving, are the three main causes of fatal accidents that have occurred in Cyprus over the last five years,” the statement added.

“The percentage of victims of road accidents, which had as their main cause one of these three causes stood at 62.02 per cent. More specifically, of the 243 victims of fatal car crashes that occurred between 2012 and 2016, some 150 were caused by excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol or negligent driving.”