Worrying violations revealed after driving clampdown

OVER 2,000 motorists were booked by police – the majority for speeding – during a three-day campaign, the force said yesterday.
Police said the island-wide campaign, between Friday and Sunday, netted 2,041 offenders with most, 891, caught speeding.
Around 150 drivers were booked for drink driving, 220 drivers and passengers for not using safety belts and 781 for other traffic offences.  
In just one night – Saturday – Limassol police reported 270 motorists for various offences.
They included 106 drivers caught speeding, 87 not wearing safety belts, and 15 for driving with expired road tax and MOT.
Police said one in seven drivers breathalysed were found to be inebriated.
Limassol traffic police deputy chief, Emilios Kkafas said the figures showed a slight increase in the number of people driving under the influence of alcohol.
Four individuals were also booked for driving without a driver’s licence and without insurance coverage.
Official statistics of the period 2007-11 show that the main causes of traffic accident fatalities are alcohol abuse, followed by reckless driving and speeding. 
Police said fatalities could have been prevented in seven out of ten accidents if the passengers had been wearing their seatbelts.
Back seat passengers and users of public transport are also obliged to wear a seat belt, traffic police’s Haris Evripidou said.
“I cannot understand why we unfortunately continue to not make our children wear seat belts in the back seats, leaving them exposed to any danger that may appear at any given moment,” Evripidou said.
He said that the fact that seven out of ten deaths could have been prevented showed there was still a lot of work to be done, but said their ambitious goal was to have no violations of the law on seat belts by the end of the year.

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