It was November 2018, at midnight between Sunday and Monday, when the life of a young man, 21-year-old Pheidias Savvidis, was tragically cut short on a makeshift speed track set up by young people in the industrial area of Idalion. At the time, the head of the Traffic Police Headquarters expressed his shock on television over the loss of young lives on the roads. He admitted that he too had cried and highlighted the urgent need to install traffic enforcement cameras to reduce road accidents.
A few days ago, again in November, and seven years later, a serious road accident in the industrial area of Dromolaxia once again brought illegal street racing into the spotlight. According to reports, the driver of the vehicle was speeding, lost control, and collided with a parked car, which was pushed into another parked car. A woman, apparently one of the spectators, was injured in the legs. The traffic enforcement camera system mentioned in 2018 failed to stop the street races, while any reduction in fatalities proved temporary.
Politis has been covering modified cars and the dangerous sport of street racing on public roads since 2004. This phenomenon continues 21 years later, with no effective measures to stop it. Residents witness or hear the nightly races on long stretches of road near their homes, where there are neither cameras nor police patrols. Cars roar past, often at extreme speeds, while the authorities appear unaware. Just one year ago, in November, Traffic Police representatives assured Parliament that street races had been reduced and were limited to specific areas now under police supervision.
Unfortunately, the concern of those in charge, whether former heads of the Traffic Police or their political superiors overseeing the Road Safety Council, seems to be temporary, appearing only after a fatal accident occurs. This can only be described as criminal negligence.
If there were vision and strategy to reduce road deaths, the discussion about establishing organized speed tracks would not still be ongoing. The Road Safety Unit at the Ministry of Transport would not consist of a single official. The Driver Training School, approved by the Council of Ministers in May 2017, would have been operational by May 2018, when Parliament formally established it, and we would not still be debating its creation. Many other measures have also been neglected. There is still no organized plan to hope that these initiatives will be implemented and finally curb this ongoing danger.