The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Mr.Yannis Karousos, chaired today, 23 January 2023, a meeting of the Road Safety Council, in the presence of the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Ms.
The main objectives of today's session of the Road Safety Council were to review the Council's work of the previous year and to award the Road Safety Ambassadors for 2022. The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Mr. Yannis Karousos advised on the reduction in road traffic fatalities in 2022, from 45 deaths recorded in 2021 to 37 in 2022 (an 18% reduction), the lowest number ever. However, he stressed the need to intensify efforts at all levels to achieve the goal of the vision of zero road crashes.
He then proceeded to a brief review, thanking the relevant Departments, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, the Cyprus Police, the Road Safety Council and volunteers for the work done, as any results are due to the collective effort.
He also referred to the progress in completing the actions of the Road Safety Strategic Plan 2021-2030, informing that of the 158 actions, 70 actions were implemented or promoted for implementation in 2021, i.e. 44%, and in 2022 the number of actions implemented increased to 98, i.e. 62%.
"We dared, we clashed, we took initiatives to implement Road Safety actions such as the implementation of the Phototagging system, the FixCyprus mobile phone application so that citizens can register problems they identify in the road network infrastructure, the promotion of the airbag for motorcyclists and the subsidy programs, but also several pieces of legislation that are pending in Parliament" said Mr. At the same time, Mr. Karousos informed that in the next few days the decree will be issued regarding the inclusion of road safety communication messages in alcohol-related advertisements. In addition, the institutionalization of the operation of Skills Workshops in pre-primary, primary, secondary and first grade of high school and their inclusion in the timetable for the year 2023-2024 has been approved.
Finally, he praised the role of the Road Safety Ambassadors and thanked them for their work in raising awareness of road safety issues through their active participation in enlightenment campaigns, television and radio broadcasts, lectures, workshops and experiential workshops, with particular emphasis on schoolchildren and National Guardsmen. She also thanked all the members of the Council for their continuous efforts to achieve the objectives of the Strategic Plan and to promote the relevant actions.
For her part, the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Mrs.Stefi Drakou, thanked Mr.Alexis Demetriou and Mr. Michalis Sofokleous for their significant contribution to addressing the social problem of road safety and the effort to cultivate road awareness, and thanked the Police for their contribution, as they held hundreds of lectures on road safety issues with the participation of 4,000 students. He also thanked the officials of the Ministry of Transport for their valuable assistance and stressed that "we do not stop here, we continue with the same love and the same way we started until we reach our goal."
In turn, Mr. Alexis Demetriou and Mr. Michalis Sofokleous thanked the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works and the Minister of Justice and Public Order for their support and the satisfaction they felt from the opportunities given to them to get in touch with young people and to inform them, in their own way and through their own experiences, about the need to respect ourselves and other road users, with the ultimate goal of reducing road collisions and their consequences. They also thanked the Ministry of Defence for the opportunity to share their experiences with the young National Guard drivers serving in the National Guard camps.
(ΘΓ/ΜΒ)
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