POLICE yesterday warned the public to be especially careful when driving over the Easter period, reminding them that alcohol is the number one cause of fatalities on the road.
Fewer car crash fatalities have been recorded this year compared to the first four months of 2010, Police Traffic Chief Demetris Demetriou said this week.
Speaking during a Road Safety Council conference, Demetriou said: “Since the beginning of the year up until today we’ve had 15 fatal accidents with 16 people dead, whereas during the corresponding period last year we had 18 fatal accidents with 21 people dead.”
However, Demetriou warned that the public should never be complacent because the months that follow will be difficult in terms of road safety. “We are going to have to intensify our efforts even further to reduce fatal accidents even more,” he added.
Cyprus has adopted the same strategy as Europe, which involves slashing the number of fatal car crashes as well as injuries by 50 per cent by 2020.
Dr Georgia Panayiotou also presented the findings of the University of Cyprus on ways to reduce traffic accidents among young people and proposals for an action plan.
The final findings of the study will be announced on May 11 which is the start day of the Programme of Actions for World Decade of Road Safety.
The implementation of an action plan to reduce car accidents among foreigners was also discussed, as they are considered one of the three high risk groups, along with young people and motorcyclists.
“Leaflets have been published in 11 languages up till now which is very important and they have also been uploaded onto the police’s and Ministry of Communications’ website,” said Communications Minister, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis .
The leaflets contain information on the importance of wearing a seatbelt among other safety issues. She also said that a series of lectures were underway and would continue under the auspices of the police in conjunction with the Municipality of Nicosia.
A number of other concerns were raised such as a bill for the reduction of the blood alcohol limit for certain categories of drivers and the implementation of a narcotest, which tests if there are drugs present in the driver’s system. Marcoullis reassured that these would be prioritised by the new parliament.
Regarding illegal parking, Marcoullis said that the process had begun to amend the law for municipalities and communities “so that local authorities are able to commission the private sector to control illegal parking.”
The bill concerning the movement of bicycles around the cities is also in its “final stages,” according to Marcoullis. “At the present stage a public consultation is taking place and we hope that very soon we will be able to take the proposal to the Cabinet,” she added.
