Only a multifaceted, holistic communications strategy can sensitise and change the profile of Cypriot drivers whom, according to a study, are impatient, careless, irresponsible, always in a hurry and rude, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Monday.
So far this year, 48 people have died as a result of 45 traffic collisions. In the past week alone, four people were killed, three of them under 25.
On Monday, Nicolaou presented, Think! a campaign aimed at sensitising drivers in a bid to cut road deaths and serious injury.
“Our primary goal through the new, targeted communications strategy is to meet the needs of a modern society, focusing our actions mainly on young drivers,” the minister said.
Nicolaou said a study showed a need to reassess the current policy on the basis of significant social changes and the manner of disseminating the messages so that they reach all ages, especially the young.
The new strategy will be anchored on the word – Think! – which aims at establishing a message that will pre-empt the consequences of wrong driving behaviour.
“Think what will happen if you crash your motorcycle without wearing a helmet,”
“While driving, think about all those who want to see you alive and not on Instagram,” are just a couple of the messages that will be used during the campaign.
“All of us ought to think about our every move on the road if we want to erase this horrible number of lost human lives,” the minister said.
He added that new programmes were being processed in cooperation with the Youth Organisation in a bid to draft a comprehensive plan to reach the best approach within 2019.
Meanwhile, increased policing in conjunction with the impending rise in penalties, are expected to discipline unscrupulous and irresponsible drivers who don’t care about the consequences of their actions, Nicolaou said.
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