Aantal dodelijke ongevallen op Kreta bijna verdubbeld

Heraklion is de trieste koploper

Eigen gedrag is hoofdoorzaak


When Cretan men and woman get in their cars and drive off each morning, they are less likely to get back home alive than anyone else in the European Union.

That startling fact became even more painfully obvious following the recent release of death toll numbers by the Hellenic Statistics Agency, which shows that in 2009 there were 14,914 accidents with 1,453 dead. In the last three years, 4,590 Greeks have lost their life on the road.

And, in Crete the numbers jump even higher, making this island the most dangerous in the deadly game of driving in the entire EU.

This past March (2010), statistically, Crete had the most fatalities per 100,000 people in the country. Also, by December 31, 2009, in Crete in the last decade there were 1,190 fatalities from road accidents.

In the prefecture of Iraklion alone, in 2009 there were 89 accidents with 36 fatalities, while in the first four-month period of this year there were 23 accidents with 10 fatalities. In fact, the number of deaths in road accidents per million residents is almost double compared to that of the rest of Greece.  

First in the list of road accidents is the Municipality of Iraklion, followed by N. Alikarnassos, Hersonissos and Malia, in that order.  

The assessment of accidents in Crete by various agencies set the number of dead at 60 from the beginning of the year.

The bottom line is, according to the EU's "White Bible on Road Safety," that in Greece in 2009 there were 121 traffic related deaths per million people, compared to 71 which is the European average. And, when you isolate Crete's statistics, the number of road deaths becomes twice that of the EU average.

There are various arguments as to why Crete is the runaway leader in this death race, but one that most people agree on is the fact that there is virtually no enforcement of traffic laws, which allows drivers to do whatever they want on the highways, where reckless driving seems to have become as Cretan as raki.

To seek the answer to this devastating situation, we dropped the question on the desk of the Chief of the Iraklion Traffic Police, Manolis Halkiadakis.



"Indeed, in Crete we have an increase of road accidents in the past few years," he said. "Our driving behaviour is distorted. And it's due to the Mediterranean temperament, the Cretan culture and the fact that Cretans are an untamed lot. I believe the solution to the problem lies in education and prevention."

When told by these reporters that, according to surveys, most road accidents occur because of speeding, going through a red traffic light and going over a double white line but seldom, if ever, do you see traffic police giving tickets, the chief responded:

"The traffic police force is not as strong in numbers as we would want it to be. We do our work with the numbers we have. I wish we could position a traffic cop or a car for every five kilometres but we can't. We do have a patrol car moving along the roads from the Gouves crossroads to Kasteli crossroads and towards the tunnel and another car moving around Aghia Pelagia and Fodele. As often as we can man it we bring out the radar-car and give tickets on the spot. We intensify the alco-tests on Friday and Saturday nights. And we constantly check for helmets and seat belts."

Chief Halkiadakis said he only has five police cars, a van, two cranes and several motorcycles, but they don't all come out on every shift.

"Several years ago the traffic violations were in the thousands, even though we had more traffic policemen," he explained. "Now, already we have a reduction. And it's not owed so much in policing as it is in prevention and education.  We have been very active in educating the public about better road behaviour," he said, adding that there was currently a road safety exhibit at EleftheriasPark. "The seven-year old child shapes its driving and road behaviour conscience from his mom and dad. If the child observes the parents speaking on the mobile while driving or going through red lights then they will consider it as normal driving behaviour."

When asked about the number of tickets issued daily, the chief said he had no statistics, but that they mostly write citations for helmet, seat belt, speed, intoxication and going through red light or over the double white line.

On another front, Iraklion MP Lefteris Avgenakis, in referring to the high number of traffic accidents in the Iraklion Prefecture, commented: "Despite the fact that the legislative measures in our country about driving are quite strict, they have been ineffective because we didn't invest in improving the infrastructures, in more technical policing, in driving education and a more stringent traffic policing."

He added that the causes of road accidents are double-edged, with human factor, imperfections of the road network and driving conditions.

"It is understood however that the behaviour of drivers is the main cause of fatalities, like speeding, alcohol consumption or narcotics, tiredness, driving without helmet or seatbelts," he stated. "And many times, bad road behaviour is intensified by the absence of preventive checks, correct signage and strict traffic policing."

Meanwhile, as Cretans continue to wield a 1,200-kilo deadly weapon to commit suicide and murder at an unprecedented rate, the erection of roadside memorials for the dead continues.



Bron: Krhonicles