Aiming at the proper information and awareness of National Guardsmen on road safety issues, as well as their training, so as to prevent serious and fatal road accidents involving young people, the Ministers of Transport, Communications and Works Mr. Charalambos Petrides and Justice and Public Order Mrs. Stefi Drakou visited today the "Elias Papakyriakou" Camp, in Nicosia.
Also present at today's event were the Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, the Deputy Chief of Police Mr. Dimitris Demetriou, the Ambassadors for Road Safety Mr. Michael Sofokleous and Alexis Demetriou, as well as members of the Road Safety Council, the Cyprus Automobile Association, the Panos Mylonas Road Safety Institute and the George Mavrikios Road Safety Foundation.
As part of the Road Safety Week for National Guardsmen, visits to National Guard camps nationwide by Road Safety Ambassadors and members of the Police and the Road Safety Council are taking place, as well as road safety lectures by members of the Police, experiential workshops using alcohol and drug simulation goggles and an educational programme in cooperation with the "Panos Milonas" Road Safety Institute.
Minister of Transport: Our strategic goal is to reduce road deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030, through a series of actions
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, referring to the Cyprus Strategic Road Safety Plan 2021-2030, pointed out that our main objective is "to reduce by 50% the number of road deaths and injuries by 2030, following the targets of the European Union, which has adopted the "Vision Zero", aiming to get as close as possible to zero road deaths in its territory by 2050".
As Mr. Karousos, in order to achieve the goal of addressing the major social problem of deaths and serious injuries from road crashes, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and the Road Safety Council are promoting a series of actions and policies related to legislation, training and testing of prospective drivers, safety of road infrastructure and vehicles, and public awareness.
Speaking about the peculiarities in the field of road safety in Cyprus, the Minister said that "the vast majority of road deaths and serious injuries are recorded on urban roads, while the percentage of road deaths and serious injuries of motorcyclists is extremely high." At the same time, Mr. Karousos said that the main and most serious violations of road traffic rules include violation of speed limits, driving under the influence of alcohol and other substances, violation of red traffic lights, non-use of seat belts especially in the rear seats, non-use of child restraints, non-use of helmets, use of hands-free mobile phones and extensive illegal parking. "Another peculiarity is the extremely high rate of road fatalities and serious injuries among young male drivers," he noted."
Taking into account all the findings, the relevant agencies focused on raising awareness, specifically targeting national guardsmen as new users of the road network and therefore more prone to road collisions. According to Mr. Caruso, with the central message "Go! And come back! We are waiting for you!", and through a series of actions that encourage the cultivation of good road behaviour, "we appeal to all National Guardsmen and ask you to return safely after any overnight stay or leave, as road safety is everyone's responsibility."
Minister of Defence: Road safety and road awareness is a national priority for the State
In turn, the Defence Minister reiterated that road safety and road awareness is a national priority for the State, noting the need for good road conduct to become a daily conscious act and experience of the National Guardsmen and youths. "Road accidents are one of the saddest scars of modern Cypriot society. Almost every day, we witness such incidents that lead to loss of life and critical and largely irreversible injuries," Petridis said.
He highlighted the human factor as a key factor in causing road accidents and stressed that as a national cause, "addressing and stopping the unjust and sad loss of young people on the asphalt requires the active participation and cooperation of all of us." Hence the Ministry of Defence is responding to the actions of the Road Safety Council, assuring of its strong will to help achieve the desired results.
Referring to the results of the European Transport Safety Council report, the Defence Minister noted that Cyprus recorded a 36.5% reduction in road deaths and a 55% reduction in serious injuries over the period 2011-2022. "Although the results of the Report can be considered positive and the prevention and awareness policies that are in the right direction, however, we need to intensify our efforts even more and do even more to reduce the rates to an even greater extent until we reach zero results. Unfortunately, we are reminded of this in the worst way with the increased number of fatal accidents in the current month," Petridis said, reiterating that for the Ministry of Defence the issue of road safety for young people is high on the list of priorities: It only takes a few milliseconds for a fatal traffic collision[/B]
In turn, the Minister of Justice and Public Order made reference to the increase in the number of fatal traffic collisions in recent weeks, noting that "prevention and road safety are some of the most important tools we have in our hands to combat serious and fatal road traffic collisions, which we aim to reduce by 50% by 2030."
In relation to the training of National Guardsmen, Ms. Drakou assured that both the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and the Police are in constant collaboration with the National Guard to train National Guardsmen through lectures and experiential workshops held nationwide. "This effort is also enhanced by the participation of the Road Safety Ambassadors, which is crucial as they convey messages through their experiences, expertise and knowledge as seen in the two videos prepared by the Road Safety Council," the Minister said, adding that the aim of all is to raise awareness among the National Guardsmen through the telling of real stories and to inform them about the alternative options offered by the National Guard for travel.
Addressing the National Guardsmen, Ms. Drakou said, "Driving is a privilege for all of us and as drivers we should know that each of us behind the wheel has a responsibility to maintain safety on the roadway. For you new drivers, driving is a new experience which I am sure you are looking forward to. By obtaining your driving licence, you now feel a practical sense of independence in your travels without being dependent on your parents." However, the Minister continued, great care is needed to ensure that young people do not get carried away by enthusiasm and correctly assess the dangers on the road network.
"It only takes a few milliseconds for a fatal traffic collision to occur. Those few milliseconds determine the distance between life and death. That is why I urge you to protect both yourself and those around you. Human life, integrity and the health of every citizen are invaluable assets, especially for you young people who have the whole future ahead of you. So drive with care because there will always be someone waiting for you at home," concluded Ms. Drakou in her address.
To make use of the experiential simulation workshops to understand the extent of our responsibility
After the event, the Ministers of Transport and Defence drove, in a specially designed and controlled environment, a vehicle with the use of alcohol and drug simulation goggles.
As Mr Petrides said afterwards, this is a simulation, which essentially allows one to see what driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs can cause. For this reason, "all together the organized bodies are moving forward to give the training to both the National Guardsmen and all citizens. A lot of training has been given to the National Guardsmen and we will continue with the classification of the new ESSO. It is a critical period and we need to intensify our efforts."
Commenting on the simulation training, Mr. Karousos said that this exercise with the use of special glasses will be available to all citizens in shopping malls and other public places and called on everyone to make use of this exercise "precisely to understand what situation one can find oneself in if one is for example under the influence of alcohol and drugs and to understand exactly what the problem is."
As Mr. Karousos said, the goal is for all members of the Cabinet to do the simulation. The goal is for all citizens to experience it, he said, noting that once someone has an experience, they will have a different way of thinking the next time they drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
In her remarks, Ms. Drakou referred to the younger generation and young drivers, saying that all efforts are made because we care about them. She described it as very unfair that lives are lost on the road and called on everyone to contribute to reduce this tragic phenomenon. "No matter how many measures we take, unless we create the right culture and respect for road safety, our measures are not enough. The younger generation, our National Guardsmen, are the future and therefore I hope the message I sent out today with all my colleagues and the Chief of the National Guard reached them, that they heard it and realized it."
The Chief of the National Guard, in turn, thanked all those involved in the effort and especially the Road Safety Ambassadors. The experiential seminars, he added, were very successful, with over 2,000 National Guardsmen participating. The intention, Lt. Gen. Zervakis said, is to repeat the training with the classification of the new ESSO.
(MKY)
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