An innovative approach to road safety

LOCAL authorities and secondary school students took innovative action to raise awareness of road safety yesterday in the centre of Nicosia yesterday.

Students of the Faneromeni high-school congregated outside City Plaza in Makarios Avenue and while being supervised by police officers took on the role of traffic wardens.

The students, wearing fluorescent jackets, looked out for offending drivers in the centre of town and issued mock parking tickets.

The symbolic parking tickets displayed road accident statistics and warned drivers of the potential dangers involved when breaking road safety regulations.

Head of the Traffic Department Doros Achileous said “This road safety initiative is a collaboration between the Police Department, CyTA and the Ministry of Education.”

“Students will be patrolling the streets for two hours in an attempt to raise road safety awareness in what we believe is an innovative and effective method.”

He added that the same initiative had been implemented in other towns and was welcomed by residents, who are all too familiar with the urgent need for new road safety measures.

This initiative coincides with the launch of ‘European Night Without Accident’, an accident awareness campaign that has been running in Europe with great success.

This evening, three nightclubs in Nicosia will be working with Police Department in an attempt to enjoy an accident free night.

Groups of young customers entering the night clubs will be asked to choose a designated driver who must promise to not drink alcohol during the night and responsibly drive his friends back home.

The designated driver will be entitled to free soft drinks all evening courtesy of the Coca-Cola group, but will undergo an alco test on departure from the club to confirm his sobriety.

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