Sir,
Popular local motorcycle enthusiast and sales manger at V Twins motorcycles Norla Peters died in a tragic and avoidable road accident recently. Norla was a very experienced and proficient motorcyclist who had been riding all her adult life and knew the roads on which she was traveling very well.
The cause of her accident and her death is believed to be debris on the road. This debris was hit by Norla, who lost control of her motorbike and died at the scene.
This accident highlights the very urgent need for the police and associated road authorities to start taking notice of the frankly disgusting state of Cypriot roads. I don’t only mean from a point of view of road surfaces – which are often very uneven and deeply potholed, but the enforcement of laws which prohibit the dumping of rubbish on or near roads.
I am a frequent user of the Paphos to Limasol highway and barely a day goes by when I do not see blown out tyres, dead animals, and similar rubbish left abandoned on the road and hard shoulder… often not removed for days. If this is the state of the highways, what hope can we have for the state of the less used B roads?
Why is it people feel it is their God given right to throw their rubbish out our their car windows while driving on our highways and byways with out so much as a thought for other road users? Surely anyone with the smallest amount of common sense can see the potential dangers of this behaviour?
Only last week I was on my motorbike when I was hit by a plastic water bottle thrown from a car, which caused me to swerve and almost lose control of my bike. The driver was unapologetic when challenged and could not see anything wrong with his actions, and the police were uninterested in any follow up action.
To make road matters even worse, areas where building work is being carried out are often littered with debris – Kamaris being one of the worse examples of note. Roads are covered with builders’ rubbish, sand, dust, water and gravel all of which make riding a motorcycle potentially fatal. Where are the police when they should be making the developers in question clean up the roads? Probably outside McDonalds in Paphos handing out speeding tickets to tourists as usual!
A few days after Norlas’ death, and fellow biker visited the crash site to find there was still blood on the road where Norla lost her life. This is after police attended the scene, and is a prime example of the lack of road clearing that we see so often on our highways.
Road safety in Cyprus is questionable at best, with inadequate driver training, non-adherence to basic driving etiquette, red light jumping and so on; we don’t need yet another potentially lethal threat on our roads.
Norla died unnecessarily because somebody dumped rubbish on a major highway. The person or persons concerned effectively caused this wonderful woman’s life to end. This is absolutely unacceptable behaviour in any civilised country.
I went to Norla’s funeral on Saturday, with about 100 or so other bikers and non bikers alike. Everyone there was deeply moved by the loss of one of the nicest and most enthusiastic motorcyclists you are likely to meet. The very fact that this loss of life was probably avoidable made a sad event even more tragic.
Motorcyclists have to take responsibility for their own safety to a certain extent by riding within their abilities, making sure their machines are in good working order, being vigilant and wearing the correct protective clothing, but there are only so many precautions you can take and virtually nothing that can be done when faced with unexpected hazards on the road like builders’ debris, rubbish and animal remains.
Patrick Dale, Paphos
