Three people are injured or killed daily in road accidents in Cyprus, Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Marios Demetriades said here today, announcing that technology, including the use of automatic speed and red light enforcement system, will be used to help halt this tragic toll.
Speaking at a press conference organized by the Cyprus Police and non government organization REACTIΟΝ on the occasion of Mobility Week between 16-22 September 2016, focusing on 21 September, which has been termed as a “European Day without deaths on the road,” he said the system will start operating gradually in 2017.
He said that the Ministries of Transport, Justice, and Finance are in discussions on how to finance the project, which should be completed in the coming years.
President of REACTION Marios Stavrou said that in the past two years 2014-2015, three people each day were injured or killed in road accidents in Cyprus. In 2015 alone 57 were killed, 377 seriously injured and 570 slightly injured in road accidents in Cyprus. At the same time, in the 28 Member States of the EU, 25,700 people died in 2014.
Head of the Police Traffic Department Yiannakis Charalambous stressed that “what causes very great concern is the lack of road safety awareness by Cypriot drivers”.
He said that “out of 57 deaths as a result of road traffic collisions in 2015, 56 were due to human error and the 33 deaths that occurred this year were also due to human error.”
CNA MAN/MM/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY