Motorcyclists accounted for 38 per cent of road deaths in Cyprus between 2021 and 2025 and young people for 26 per cent, Transport Minister Evi Tsolaki said on Saturday as she launched a campaign against distracted driving.
For the past four years, the ministry has run a subsidy scheme to help motorcyclists buy airbag protective gear, she said.
The goal is to halve deaths and serious injuries from road collisions by 2030, said Tsolaki, who also chairs the Road Safety Council. Speaking at an event in Limassol, she said the campaign focuses on protecting young people and other vulnerable road users, and on the tragic consequences of losing concentration at the wheel.
“Behind every statistic is a human life lost and a family suffering an irreparable loss,” she said, adding that ahead of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on 15 November, it was a time to remember those killed or injured on the roads and their families.
Even a notification on a mobile phone can distract a driver, with potentially tragic consequences for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Tsolaki urged drivers to set up their navigation before setting off, put their phones away while driving and, if they need to use them, stop somewhere safe first.
About 60 per cent of fatal collisions and 80 per cent of collisions causing injuries happen in urban areas, according to the minister. Lower speeds give drivers more time to react and reduce the severity of a crash, and the ministry has approved grants to local authorities to create 30 km/h zones, particularly around schools and in residential neighbourhoods.
The 50 per cent target is an interim goal of the Strategic Road Safety Plan 2021-2030 and will require consistency, systematic effort and coordinated action from everyone, she said, through infrastructure, legislation, awareness campaigns and cooperation with local authorities.
The aim, Tsolaki said, is a road environment that doesn’t leave human safety to chance and where a human error doesn’t end in tragedy, in line with Vision Zero, which seeks to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on the roads.
Limassol Mayor Yiannis Armeftis said the municipality considers the 30 km/h limit on the city’s streets particularly important, so that parents can walk safely with their children, older people are not afraid to get around and cyclists are less at risk.
The campaign, prepared with the Press and Information Office, includes a television film, a radio spot, posters and digital ads, under the slogan ‘Someone else’s mistake could be your last’.
(Information from Cyprus Transport Police)
