Cyprus Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos announced that motorists who commit serious traffic offences will be immediately stripped of their driving license.
Motorists driving under the influence of drugs or found to have an excessive concentration of alcohol in their system or driving at speeds well above the limit will be deprived of their license.
The Road Transport department has the authority to strip offending motorists of their licenses after being notified by the police.
The decision was taken after himself and Justice Minister George Savvides were presented worrying evidence regarding road accident-related deaths by the Road Safety Council.
Karousos told reporters that evidence regarding drink driving and driving under the influence of drugs was particularly alarming.
This year was not off to a bad start with already five young people losing their lives on Cyprus’ roads.
Savvides said parliament is about to vote in seven bills, increasing penalties for all traffic offences.
“After a lengthy process we are one step away from increasing penalties and I hope that within the next month these bills will be brought before the House’s plenary,” said Savvides.
He said that once the increase in penalties is passed, the government will launch an awareness campaign, noting that the aim is not to collect more cash for the state but to help reduce fatalities.
Cyprus motorists committing offences could pay quadruple the current penalties.
The bills were prepared after a study commissioned by the Justice Ministry and carried out by the Faculty of Law of the University of Cyprus.
It found that penalties for driving offences are relatively low compared to other EU member states, and less effective in bringing down the road accident-related death toll.
The bills, if voted in, will see speeding fines significantly increase as they will be five times heftier. Speed offences will be calculated at €5 instead of €1 for every km/h over the speed limit.
Penalties regarding the offence of drunk driving are to go up according to the driver’s alcohol intake.
Fines will begin from €125 (up from €100) if the driver is tested with results indicating 22μg / 100ml – 35μg / 100ml.
If the case goes to court, then the penalty imposed increases from €1000 to €1500 and/or 3 months imprisonment, while the driver will be penalised with 3-4 penalty points from 0-2.
Fines could reach €5,000 with the driver jailed for up to a year.
Driving without insurance will incur a €200 fine and without an MOT certificate €150.
Running a red light will go up to €300 instead of €85, while drivers parking in a space reserved for the disabled will be fined €200 instead of €85.
