Kyriakos Syllouris, the 21-year-old son of House Speaker Demetris Syllouris, has been jailed for one year for negligent manslaughter in a 2013 road accident in Nicosia.

The maximum for manslaughter by reckless driving in Cyprus is four years. For comparison’s sake, in the UK the sentences range between five to 14 years. The more dangerous the driving, the higher the penalty.

At 3:15 am on September 21st, 2013, Petros Sebastianos Karapateas, aged 29, was on his way to his Strovolos home on his Vespa moped when he was hit by Kyriakos Syllouris’ Mercedes. Petros Karapateas was a teacher, brother and loving son, and a friend to many, according to a Youtube tribute by his family and friends.

K. Syllouris was just 18 when the accident happened, and tested negative for alcohol, but the light sentence sends the message that road safety is still the lowest priority for the state and justice system. In what seems to be the final irony, the judge suspended Syllouris’ license for 18 months and added 10 points to it.

Families destroyed

Two more families are now suffering the tragedies that happen every day and that could be avoided with more awareness of road safety. Extended training or restrictions for young, inexperienced drivers, properly-lit roads, and campaigns urging drivers to respect motorcyclists are just a few measures that could be prioritised.

Bigger picture

The situation on the roads is critical.

Earlier this week, a 29-year-old Romanian woman died in a road accident in Protaras after the buggy she was in entered the wrong lane at night, crashing into another car. It’s common for the roads to be badly lit, even on dangerous curves and sharp turns, of which there are many. The roads are really difficult for foreign drivers who are used to driving on the right-hand side.

Transport Minister Marios Demetriades and Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou met to discuss critical road safety issues like road lighting, drivers over the age of 70 and outsourcing driver’s education to the private sector.

A database of road accidents would help to plan strategies to reduce them, said the transport minister.

In addition, the ministers discussed a programme to re-train traffic offenders. Similar programmes have been successful in other countries, said the minister.

The high-risk group of 18-25 drivers was not discussed, according to their statement. But CNR has been covering road safety issues for over seven years, and these kids are the first to go in road accidents. Their young lives are either cut short or they end up in wheelchairs, paralysed for life.

Dangerous driving

In 2015, police fined 22,000 drivers for various offences. Still, the high number of fatalities due to speeding, unpredictable behaviour, dangerous overtaking, driving under the influence or other types of reckless driving have not been significantly reduced.

One of the biggest problems is aggressive or high-risk driving like excessive speeding, running red lights or doing dangerous u-turns. Added to this risk are dangerous road conditions. Although the road system has evolved, it is full of confusing one-ways, road signs hidden by trees, faded road lines, while being badly-lit and badly maintained.

Combined with high-risk driving, it adds up to road danger, rather than road safety.

Shared responsibility

A solution would be for political leaders, municipalities and MPs to take on the worthwhile cause and channel resources towards educational campaigns and awareness campaigns. A consistent approach towards road safety awareness has not yet been reached. But for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of drivers and passengers who risk their lives daily on the Cyprus roads, it’s about time this changed.

So many of the roads are full of cracks, potholes and lack lights. Fixing the roads and planning traffic circulation and parking more effectively would also go a long way towards safer driving conditions.

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