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Loony law makers.

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Loony law makers.

Postby webbo » Sat May 17, 2008 6:05 pm

Pedestrians beware as jaywalking law comes into force
By Leo Leonidou

FROM yesterday, pedestrians not crossing the road at a designated crossing if there is one available within 300 feet are liable for €9 fine.

The measure came into immediate effect after Parliament on Thursday night approved the law banning jaywalking.

Director of the Traffic Unit Doros Achilleos said the measure was necessary in order to improve safety, with six pedestrians killed on the roads so far this year. “This worries us greatly,” he stated, adding that too many pedestrians are putting their lives, as well as those of motorists, in danger due to carelessness.

But Achilleos admitted there were not enough pedestrian crossings across the island. “This is an issue that must be immediately addressed by local authorities as we have countless roads with no crossings. Studies must be undertaken in order to ascertain where they are most needed.”

Asked why a pedestrian should walk an extra 300 feet to a crossing if there is little or no traffic on a particular road, Achilleos said this was precisely why it needed to be done.

“When there are not many cars on the road, this is a more dangerous situation for pedestrians as the cars in circulation are travelling at greater speeds,” he said.

He also drew attention to the fact that pedestrians were not allowed on the motorway and would be fined €86 for failure to comply.

At the same time, the police also announced a zero-tolerance policy against drivers parking on or near pedestrian crossings.

One pedestrian using the pelican crossing outside the Post Office near Eleftheria Sqaure in Nicosia slammed the plans.

“This is a total joke,” he said. “No driver ever stops for anybody at a crossing, where I would say it’s actually more dangerous to cross. The police should instead concentrate on the all-too-common sight of motorists who park on the pavements, forcing pedestrians onto the road.”

On Thursday, the police conducted a series checks between 7am and 6pm where 549 people were booked for a variety of offences.

Thirty-eight people were each fined €86 for parking on a pedestrian crossing, while 15 drivers were charged with not stopping at a crossing. The rest violated other, unspecified traffic laws.

A total of 120 pedestrians were given a verbal warning for not crossing at a designated spot, ahead of the adoption of the law.

What will they think of next. They don't enforce the traffic laws they have already!!

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
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Postby cyprusgeoff » Sun May 18, 2008 10:10 am

I agree.

They're having a laugh aren't they?

Everyday I see people driving without seat belts, talking on mobile phones, some of them smoking at the same time.

There are more motor cyclists without helmets than those that wear them and a lot of those are under age boys that speed around by day and night.

Jumping red traffic lights is the normal practise along with speeding often with one arm hanging out of the drivers side window.

If the government is serious about cutting the death toll on the roads in Cyprus then they must start to crack down on the police to enforce the laws already in place.
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Postby Crivens » Sun May 18, 2008 11:32 am

Yeah, is a bit rich to crack down on the pedestrians. I don't bother stepping onto a crossing until I make sure people have stopped and there isn't an idiot on a bike zooming through the middle. It surprises me quite a bit though that you see a *lot* of locals cross the road away from crossings and without really checking much as they cross. Considering the amazing lack of concentration from drivers here you would think from a very young age they would have perfected the art of diving full tilt for the pavement and would be looking in all directions all the time. Heh, only slightly joking there. I mean when you live in the middle of town it is shocking to see the number of accidents on straight roads, in the middle of the day, with no problems with visability. Really really amazing...

Still, if it gets the police off the dual carriageway clamping down on people going above 100kph on lets face it mostly empty decent roads, then I'm all for it. Morons pelting up my road in the middle of the night as fast as they can in their shopping trolley cars, or on their surely too loud for law bikes (I think they like to look like Terminator 2 without the helmet (unfortuantly no cyborg noggin to protect them) - check it out next time...) would surely be reduced if the Police patrolled around a bit more in the night.

Heh, and yeah, what happens when you have to step on the road to get by the massive amounts of cars on the pavement? Do people here not park a little bit further away than where they are going? Say a side road just by the side of the place? Nope...

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Postby sibadd » Mon May 19, 2008 12:29 am

Police chief Doros Achilleos is slipping into the habit of 'victim blaming', so I'm delighted to read the feisty reactions on the forum to his attempt to punish people on foot foolish enough to risk being killed by people behind the wheels of cars. If it comes to a fight between 2000 kilos of metal driven over the speed limit and human flesh, we all know who 'wins'. A civilised approach to safer streets ought to be based on a hierarchy which ranks motorised traffic a lot further down the list of road users than car and truck drivers take for granted:
http://www.slower-speeds.org.uk/ks-sum.htm
For most of human history streets comfortably accommodated the full range of human activity. In villages, towns and cities, the streets were the place for socialising, children's play, public meetings, entertainments, demonstrations and social change. They were also routes for travel and the movement of goods, but until the motor age, there was a balance. That's been upset by our love affair with cars. In Greece's sokaki villages and cobbled city centres, cars are banned or slowed and as a result the traditional village street is still a place for all - with drivers forced to 'negotiate' courteously with other road users. As soon as roads widen the car takes over, speed increases, social interaction dies and the law privileges the fastest. In Athens many people have had enough of this imbalance - it's dangerous, unfair, polluting and downright ugly. http://www.streetpanthers.gr/
http://nanturpin.wordpress.com/2007/11/ ... rs-athens/
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Re: Loony law makers.

Postby webbo » Mon May 19, 2008 3:53 pm

I used the a zebra crossing (same one) twice today.

Traffic failed to stop both times even though I was actually on the crossing - apart from two buses (different buses). Well done bus drivers

Bubbles x 8)
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Postby Crivens » Mon May 19, 2008 11:01 pm

I used the a zebra crossing (same one) twice today
Well you wouldn't get fined. Maybe killed...

Heh, actually the day after the new law come out I was driving down the Limassol beach road and almost mowed down about 5 families who were tottering all over the place in the central bit. Honestly almost seemed like a mass protest at the new law considering there were easily two crossings within 300ft. Nice :)

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Postby webbo » Mon May 19, 2008 11:10 pm

Crivens wrote:
I used the a zebra crossing (same one) twice today
Well you wouldn't get fined. Maybe killed...

Heh, actually the day after the new law come out I was driving down the Limassol beach road and almost mowed down about 5 families who were tottering all over the place in the central bit. Honestly almost seemed like a mass protest at the new law considering there were easily two crossings within 300ft. Nice :)

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Naughty boy. please try harder next time..................... :wink: :lol:

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