There were 20 fatal road traffic accidents in the first five months of 2023, virtually the same toll as last year, Kibris Postasi reports.
These deaths include eight pedestrians, five vehicle drivers, five passengers, one bicyclist and a motorcycle rider.
Nine of those accidents were caused by excessive speeding, six of them by drunk driving, three by careless driving, one from making a sudden turn to the right, and one from not keeping to the left side of the road.
Traffic Director of the General Directorate of Police (PGM) İbrahim Ulusoy, said that “Our controls continue uninterruptedly, but it is not possible for us to control all the drivers. We expect them to help us by following the rules in this regard, so that we can reduce traffic accidents”.
Speeding and Drink Driving
Speeding and drunk driving are the two main causes of fatal accidents in North Cyprus. Merely imposing a fine on drunk drivers is not enough of a deterrent, the Traffic Director said.
Ulusoy said: “In my personal opinion, we need to make legal arrangements. Alcohol rates in fatal accidents over 150 milligrams are striking. This signals to us that we need to do something. I believe that it will be more effective for us to deal with the problem of drunk driving by making legal arrangements, not imposing a fixed penalty for readings above a certain alcohol rate, but by directly bringing a lawsuit, bringing them before the court, and ensuring that these drivers are tried in court. We are working towards this direction as well…”
