Cyprus recorded the lowest number of road deaths in 2022 since the establishment of the Republic in 1960, according to the police.
With 2022 now over, Cyprus traffic police confirmed 37 deaths from road accidents on roads in areas controlled by the Republic, seven less than in 2021.
Talking to state radio, the acting head of the traffic police, Charis Evripidou, said the numbers remained lower than ever, with no fatalities recorded over the Christmas holidays.
However, the police did not include the latest road fatality in its calculations, as the accident occurred in an area under the jurisdiction of the British Bases.
The last fatal crash on December 31 saw a young mother killed in a car accident that occurred after 10 pm on the Akrotiri – Kolossi road near the village of Trachoni in Limassol.
The victim was Marileni Constantinidou, 25, from the village of Yerasa, in the Limassol district, CyBC reported.
Constantinidou travelled in a vehicle driven by her 22-year-old husband and their 3-month-old infant.
Despite the high number of fatalities for a population under a million inhabitants, authorities are encouraged by the drop.
Some 44 people lost their lives on Cyprus’ roads in 2021, down from 48 in 2020 and 52 in 2019.
The highest number of road deaths recorded in the past decade was 67 in 2011; a decade before, they were in triple figures.
According to recent traffic police data, the highest fatalities for 2022 were recorded on Limassol roads, as 13 people lost their lives in the district, compared to nine last year.
Eight fatalities were recorded in Nicosia, down from 14.
Five people lost their lives in Paphos, compared to nine in 2021, while Larnaca recorded six deaths, the same as last year.
Five people lost their lives in Famagusta, down from six last year.
Out of the 14 people killed on roads this year (10 drivers and four passengers), only four were wearing seat belts.
As for the 12 dead in motorbike accidents (nine riders and three passengers), only five were wearing crash helmets.
Also killed were four cyclists, six pedestrians and one electric scooter driver.
Authorities are going ahead with the next phase of the recently re-introduced traffic camera network, adding more fixed cameras at six busy junctions in the capital, Nicosia, and Limassol.
The speed cam system has been re-introduced after almost 15 years since the last attempt stumbled on legalities.
Once the €34 mln system is fully operational, there will be 90 fixed units in 30 locations and 20 mobile cameras.
