Cyprus still falling short on road safety minister warns

The strategic plan for road safety 2012-2020 is to reduce the number of road deaths and injuries by 50 per cent, Transport Minister Vassiliki Anastasiadou said on Monday at a conference on road safety.

She said to achieve this her ministry was working closely with virtually all other ministries and the police, academic institutions and other private and public organisations.

By 2017, a reduction in injuries of 58 per cent from 2012 was achieved, Anastasiadou explained, but the aims of the strategic plan had not been reached, as Cyprus had 57 deaths per one million inhabitants in 2018, while the EU average was 49.

The two-day road safety forum with the participation of the ministries of transport, justice and education, police, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and renowned researchers and academics from Cyprus and Australia started in Nicosia on Monday morning.

The conference concentrates on the role of speed, road infrastructure, pedestrian safety, car safety standards and road rule enforcement.

It is organised by the Australian High Commission in Cyprus in cooperation with the Centre of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences (Cerides) of European University Cyprus.

Last May Cerides signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Australia`s Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) which was followed by a panel discussion where professor Judith Charlton, director of the Monash University Accident Research Centre presented the “Towards Zero” strategy on road accidents introduced by the state of Victoria in Australia.

Opening remarks on Monday morning were made by the Australian High Commissioner, the director of MUARC, representative of the WHO Europe, the dean of the European University, the chief of police and the ministers of transport, justice and education were followed by a panel discussion.

Closed workshops were also going to take place with invited key stakeholders in the afternoon and Tuesday under the guidance and direction of MUARC, WHO and Cerides.

This year marks a ten year anniversary of Australia-Cyprus engagement and cooperation in road safety at both at the civil society and government level.

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