Cyprus 14th in EU in road fatalities

Cyprus recorded 44 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2024 – ranking 14th among EU countries – but had a high proportion of powered two-wheelers and victims aged 18 to 24, according to a European Commission working document made public on Monday.

In Cyprus, the vast majority of road fatalities and serious injuries occur inside urban areas.

In Cyprus’s road safety strategic plan, the targets of halving the numbers of road fatalities, serious and slight injuries in 2030 compared to 2020 have been set. Also, five additional targets have been defined in relation to specific road user types of high risk.

A total of 158 road safety measures divided in eight fields of action are included in the strategic plan. In practice, some of these measures are further divided into more detailed sub-measures.

Based on the latest available data, Cyprus appears to be almost on track to meet the 2030 target of halving road fatalities, with a 21 per cent decrease between 2019 and 2024. In 2022, 253 people were seriously injured in road crashes, which is 26 per cent lower than the respective figure in 2019.

Regarding the implementation of the road safety actions foreseen in the national strategy for the period 2021-2024, progress has been made in most road safety areas, with significant delays being reported for some road safety areas.

Based on the self-reported assessment, measures in 16 areas are on track, the implementation of the measures in four areas has been completed, while in the remaining six areas, the implementation has been delayed or has not even started yet. The baseline is assessed as high for four out of the 26 road safety areas and as low in 12 areas.

The main gaps reported are the understaffed technical services, the insufficient organisation of the authorities and the limited budget. These have a negative effect on the progress of the strategy implementation in all areas of the road safety management pillar, except legislation, in the implementation of measures related to vulnerable road users, road safety campaigns, as well as for measures related to the safe speeds pillar, the Commission said.

It added that progress in the implementation of the planned actions is broadly well on track, which is partly reflected in the evolution of the overall number of fatalities, albeit with small figures subject to annual fluctuations.

However, significant delays are met in the implementation of the plan due to organisational, budget and staff-related issues. It is therefore necessary to resolve the obstacles preventing or delaying the implementation of the road safety strategy and to speed up the setting of the planned road safety measures, with emphasis on those related to urban infrastructure, vulnerable road users and safe speeds.

According to Cyprus’ strategic plan, based on the national road safety statistics of the period 2017-2019, some key problems emerge, which require special attention and priority.

Among these are that the vast majority of road fatalities and serious injuries occur inside urban areas (63.5 per cent of fatalities and 80 per cent of serious injuries) largely due to speeding.

There is also a very high percentage of motorcyclist and moped fatalities (31.4%) and especially on urban roads, as well as a very high rate of pedestrian fatalities (23.5%) and a high rate of road deaths of young people aged up to 24 years (26.1%).

Furthermore, there is a very high rate of road fatalities of foreigners residing in Cyprus (27.3%), which is disproportionate to the percentage of foreign citizens residing in Cyprus.

The working documents identifies a general disobedience to road traffic rules, with violation of speed limits (37% inside urban areas, 19% on rural roads, 64% on motorways), driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (15.2% of fatal crashes were attributed to drink driving and 8.3% to drug driving), non-use of seat belts especially in the rear seats (56% of killed passenger car occupants were not wearing seat-belts), non-use of helmets (44% of killed motorcyclists were not wearing helmets), and use of mobile phone while driving (24% of fatal crashes were attributed to careless driving/driver distraction).

Cyprus’ strategic plan for 2021-2030 aims at a 50 per cent reduction in fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries compared to 2020.

A total of 158 road safety measures divided in eight fields of actions are included in the road safety strategic plan.

The actions cover legislation, road traffic code and enforcement; driver training and testing; road safety education, publicity and awareness-raising; safer roads and mobility; post-crash care; safer vehicles; road safety research; and organisational structure and operation.

In 2024, the number of fatalities decreased by 21 per cent compared to 2019. Thus, Cyprus is almost on track to meet the 2030 target of halving the number of road fatalities although as a small country the number of fatalities is subject to annual fluctuations.

In addition, the number of serious injuries decreased by 26 per cent in 2022 compared to 2019. Thus, Cyprus appears on track to meet the 2030 target of halving the number of serious injuries.

Also, Cyprus is well on track to meet the remaining targets set in the plan (if one uses 2019 as the baseline year), with the observed number of casualties being lower than the target values in 2022 for all categories.

Compared to the EU average, the distribution of fatalities in Cyprus shows a relatively high proportion of powered two-wheelers and of 18- to 24-year-olds. In fact, powered two-wheelers accounted for 19 per cent of road fatalities and 18 per cent of serious injuries in 2022.

According to the working document, progress in the implementation of the planned actions is broadly well on track, which is reflected in part in the evolution of the total number of fatalities (albeit Cyprus has small numbers which are subject to annual fluctuations).

However, significant delays are met in the implementation of the plan due to organisational, budget and staff-related issues. It is therefore necessary to resolve the obstacles preventing or delaying the implementation of the road safety strategy and to speed up the setting of the planned road safety measures, with emphasis on those related to urban infrastructure, vulnerable road users and safe speeds, the Commission points out.