POLICE had to set up a road block in Nicosia yesterday to stop a drunken Polish bus driver from killing his passengers, including a group of schoolchildren.
After he was arrested the 52-year-old Pole was found to be four times over the legal limit, police said.
The bus was seen driving extremely dangerously was eventually stopped by police in after a member of the public complained that the vehicle had been swerving erratically across the road.
Traffic police set up a road block a little after 2 pm on Andreas Avraamides Avenue in Strovolos to halt Bus 16.
The Polish driver was four times over the legally accepted alcohol limit. He initially tested with 88 mg of alcohol in his blood, while a second test showed 82 mg. The legally accepted limit is 22 mg.
“It is criminal for a professional driver to have such quantities of alcohol in his blood in broad daylight, while he is transporting so many passengers,” said Deputy Traffic Police Chief Demetris Demetriou.
Passengers on Bus 16 were eventually picked up by another bus and taken to their destinations.
A spokesman for Nicosia Bus Drivers yesterday told the CyBC that the Polish driver had already been fired.
Asked if the bus company had been aware of the driver’s drinking habit, Nicosia Bus Inspector Loucas Evgeniou said it hadn’t.
“Following earlier complaints by a number of passengers, we called the police and they put him through two alcohol tests, which tested negative,” he said.
“We called the police for a third time, but they said they couldn’t carry out an alcohol test without there being a complaint, so we estimated that he didn’t drink. After today, he is part of the company’s past.”
The Pole was the second bus driver to be caught driving drunk in Nicosia.
In that incident, the driver was also Polish.
“There was another driver, he was arrested and taken to court, where if I’m not mistaken, he received three penalty points on his license and a fine. He was fired,” Evgeniou said.
During the incident in 2006 terrified passengers could not believe their eyes when they saw the driver was so drunk that other motorists were forced to drive on to the pavements to avoid being hit by his vehicle.
The 48-year old was fined only around €400 even though he was found to be five times over the limit.
This second incident yesterday has prompted the head of Nicosia Traffic Police, Alkis Kyriacou to schedule a visit to the company’s offices today.
