Speed and inexperience killed underage driver

Speed and inexperience were the causes of the road accident that killed a 16-year-old in Axelia, Paphos, on Sunday, police said on Monday.

The teenager, Neophytos Tsaggaras, was driving a pick-up truck with his 13-year old cousin on a rural road on Sunday afternoon, when he lost control of the vehicle, sliding off the road and crashing into a tree.

A farmer in the area noticed the accident and alerted the authorities. The driver who became trapped in the vehicle had to be freed by firefighters and was rushed to Paphos hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

“Speed and inexperience are the most probable causes of the accident. The accident is further being investigated,” police press officer Michalis Michael told the Cyprus Mail on Monday.

He added that his cousin, is currently being treated at Limassol general hospital and is out of danger.

Marios Stavrou leader of the youth road safety NGO Reaction told the Cyprus Mail that underage drivers are an ongoing problem in rural areas.

“We only remember about these issues when something bad happens and then we quickly forget without actually addressing this ongoing problem,” he said.

According to Stavrou, parents and society need to find ways to communicate more effectively with children, allowing them to understand the dangers and truly listening to them as to the reasons why act in a certain manner.

“Parents often ban their children from driving a motorcycle, but the kids will find a way to do it anyway, mostly through their friends,” he said, adding that it would be better if the child was given the opportunity to learn how to drive a bike according to safety standards and within the law.

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.