YOUNG DRIVERS are to face a barrage of new measures aimed at reducing road accidents, Transport Minister Nicos Nicolaides said yesterday.
Following a meeting of the Road Safety Council Nicolaides announced six proposed measures including heavier fines, more education and a zero-alcohol rate in breathalyser tests.
Nicolaides the first step will be to propose a legal amendment to reduce the age required to get a provisional licence, from 18 to 17. The thinking is it will give young drivers a longer time to prepare for their driving tests at 18.
The second measure involves a substantial increase in fines for provisional drivers caught violating traffic regulations to €85, which is the highest possible amount under the law.
The third proposal is to introduce the institution of ‘driving under supervision’. “For two years after attaining a driving licence, new drivers will drive under stricter supervision and will be subject to stricter penalties,” Nicolaides said.
A fourth measure will be to introduce alternative penalties for young drivers, such as community service and obligatory attendance at road-safety seminars. The Council also suggests the introduction of simulators in driving schools, by offering them incentives to install the equipment, while finally it will promote new legislation that will allow amateur drivers zero alcohol levels while driving.
Asked when these new measures would be implemented, Nicolaides said they would require legal readjustments. “The Road Transport Department is almost ready to promote the bill, the philosophy of which was today approved by the Road Safety Council,” he said. “I am quite sure that the bill will be ready for the Council’s next meeting and will then be promoted to Parliament for approval.”
The minister added: “Unfortunately, 40 per cent of road accidents involve young drivers. This is of great concern to us and for a while now we have been centring our efforts on specifying certain actions that will reduce accidents among youths.”
As part of these efforts, the University of Cyprus has been asked to carry out a survey on the best possible actions to avert accidents among youths.
Another high-risk sector when it comes to road accidents and fatalities are foreigners, the minister explained. For this reason, the Road Safety Department has already taken a number of actions, such as improved road signs, launching informative campaigns and prompting companies that employ foreign drivers to offer specific training.
“A €200,000 fund has already been included in the 2010 budget for specific actions involving road accidents with foreigners,” said Nicolaides.
But overall, the minister said the Council yesterday expressed its optimism over the apparent reduction in road accidents, which encouraged them to intensify the battle.
According to Justice Minister Loucas Louca, there was a significant reduction in fatal and serious road accidents during 2009 compared to the year before, which was recorded to have the least road deaths since 1964.
“This year we had a further 20 per cent reduction,” said Louca. “In 2008 we had 38 fatal accidents with 41 deaths, compared to this year where there have been 29 fatal accidents with 33 deaths.”
The Minister said he was convinced the newly announced measures would further decrease these numbers.
