A 22-year-old drink driver crashed into a parked patrol car in Nicosia early on Monday, injuring the officer inside, at the same spot where another drink driver had hit a lamp post hours earlier.
Police had closed Parisinou Street between the Parisinos roundabout and the traffic lights at the junction of Agiou Prokopiou Street and Grivas Digenis while a crew repaired the lamp post. The patrol car was parked at the scene for safety reasons, with its headlights and emergency lights on.
The 22-year-old was leaving the roundabout and turning into Agiou Prokopiou Street at around 1.30am, while the repairs were under way, when he hit the patrol car. His breath test gave a reading of 57 micrograms, against a legal limit of 22. An ambulance took the officer to Nicosia General Hospital for tests.
The first collision happened at around 10pm on Sunday, when a 44-year-old driving along Agiou Prokopiou Street towards the roundabout veered off course and hit a metal lamp post, ending up in the middle of the two lanes. He was slightly hurt and taken to the same hospital by ambulance. His breath test gave a reading of 42 micrograms.
Both drivers were booked out of court for drink-driving. The officer and the 44-year-old are expected to be discharged from hospital, and Nicosia Traffic Police are investigating both crashes.
