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REDUCING THE ROAD DEATH TOLL IN CYPRUS: LESSONS FROM DENMARK

Dr. Mehmet Avci & Prof. Andreas Kapardis

The huge loss of human lives due to traffic accidents is a phenomenon that plagues many countries worldwide. For too long now, Cyprus has had one of the highest accident rates in Europe. For example, during the period 1996-2005, Greek-Cypriots have mourned a yearly average of 108 dead due to traffic-related accidents. During 2005 alone, there were 2,398 road accidents, of which 102 fatal, 741 serious and 1,555 not serious. In proportion to the size of the population, the picture is even more worrying in the Turkish Cypriot Community. Last year, there were 3,254 accidents and the average number of deaths caused by road accidents between 1996 and 2005 was 51.

Research on traffic accidents in Cyprus has shown that, as elsewhere, young male drivers feature disproportionately in traffic accidents and that speed and negligent driving are the most important factors; in other words, the human factor is what needs to be tackled effectively. Traffic cameras can now be seen in Cyprus but a great deal more needs to be done.

Understanding the need to do something about the appalling road accident situation in Cyprus, a group of two Greek Cypriots and three Turkish Cypriots recently accepted an invitation by the Danish Ministry of Justice to visit Denmark and familiarise themselves with “Respect for speed”, a traffic-accident reduction programme for young drivers. The visit was funded by ACT. The group was accompanied by Education Officer Stavroula Georgiadou of ACT and Maria Laugesen from the Embassy of Denmark in Nicosia.

The visit to Denmark at the end of April involved a briefing on relevant legislation at the Ministry of Justice, a visit to the Road Safety Council and a visit to and a briefing by the traffic police in Vejle on mobile traffic cameras. The main highlight of the visit, however, was a day-long visit to an old airfield outside Vejle where the “Respect for Speed” programme is held several times a year. Those young drivers who volunteer to participate in the programme – greatly motivated by a reduction on their car insurance premium for participating – arrive early in the morning in buses from all over Denmark, having paid a fee of around CYP300. They are divided into smaller groups in which they follow a number of activities throughout the day. First the participants are briefed on the realities of car accidents by ambulance doctors and police officers who then work to engage them in a dialogue on the subject. Under the supervision of experienced driving instructors, participants take part in a driving drill on the airport runway to experience the effects of having to unexpectedly stop to avoid hitting somebody at a short distance while driving at 110km per hour. They are then schooled in first-aid and listen to the traumatic experience of a young public information officer who has to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair as a result of a road accident. Finally, the groups come together to view short films featuring interviews with young drivers who, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or too fast, have caused the loss of the life of another person in a road accident.

Since “Respect for Speed” was introduced, it has had a 100% success rate: none of the young drivers who have been through the programme have since been involved in a car accident. The five-member Cyprus group is currently examining ways of how, utilising the knowledge gained in Denmark, a similar project could be implemented bi-communally in Cyprus with young drivers in an island-wide approach in order to reduce the road death toll on the island.