Cyprus holds the second highest mortality rate of young persons in the EU and the third place in the percentage of deaths of young persons in road accidents, in relation to the total of deaths from other causes.

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published its 21st Performance Index (PIN) Flash 21 report on November 29, in the context of the Road Safety PIN programme, presenting data in EU member states regarding efforts to reduce the fatalities from road accidents among young persons aged 15 to 30 years.

According to the report, about 140,000 young persons aged 15 to 30 were killed in road accidents over the past ten years in the 27 EU member states. This age group constitutes 20% of the total EU population but 30% of the total of those killed in road accidents. With the implementation of the European Action Plan for Road Safety, a 44% drop was achieved from 2001 to 2009 in the number of young persons that died on European roads. Cyprus recorded a lower reduction rate from the EU average.

Cyprus is in the group of countries where the percentage of young persons aged 15 to 30 in the population is between 8% and 11%, while the percentage of deaths of young persons is 20% to 24%. Furthermore, Cyprus has the second highest mortality rate of young persons, while the mortality rate in Cyprus for the rest of the population is around the EU average. It also holds the second place in the mortality of young men.

 The problem in Cyprus, in relation to other European countries, focuses on young men, especially drivers and passengers of motorcycles or mopeds. Cyprus also holds the third place regarding the percentage of deaths of young persons in road collisions in relation to the total of deaths from other causes. The ETSC has issued a series of recommendations, which Cyprus, according to a press release, will be fully utilising in order to drastically reduce the number of victims among young persons, in the context of drafting the new Road Safety Strategic Plan 2012-2020.

Cyprus Weekly