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Countless accidents with “quads”
• Hellenic Police.: “Drivers must comply with the road rules”
Every summer the number of traffic accidents on our island increases due to the presence of many foreign visitors, who do not know the dangerous points of our road network, the inattention of drivers, the consumption of alcohol and the bad road network. Especially driving under the influence of alcohol is the most important cause of accidents, according to the Hellenic Police (ELAS) data.
Just last Friday after a traffic accident, a 19-year-old foreigner was airlifted to the University Hospital of Rio. This was just one of the serious accidents that occur daily on the island’s roads.
Intensive checks by the Traffic Police throughout the summer.
The Spokesman of the General Regional Police Directorate I.N., Police Officer A’ Theofilos Meleggidis spoke about the intensive controls that are being carried out in the Ionian Islands during this time.
“Checks are constantly carried out on both two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles, which now in the summer made their appearance to a greater extent on the islands, and if dangerous violations are found to cause a traffic accident, we even lead to immobilization of vehicles. Controls are intensive and will be intensive throughout the summer to detect dangerous violations that lead to traffic accidents. Drivers must pay attention and obey the Road Traffic Code, wear a helmet and seat belt, do not talk on the mobile phone and respect the speed limits.
The National Road Zakynthos – Keri ” A killer.”
There are also very dangerous places on the road network, where traffic accidents occur quite often. A road on which drivers develop high speeds and accidents are caused almost every day is the National Road Zakynthos – Keri and specifically in three dangerous points of National Road These are: a) the junction at the Lidl supermarket, Ambelokipi b) the junction at the Ampelokipi Primary School and c) the Ampelokipi junction, at the Galinos clinic.
Scream of distress from village presidents.
The presidents of the villages Pantokrator and Ampelokipi local communities are sounding the alarm.
Yiannis Karamalikis, president of Pantokratora emphasized that more checks should be done in the wider area. “More checks, markings and notifications are needed and the bins should not be on the main road, so that accidents do not happen like they did a few days ago. In general, everyone must respect the road rules, not exceed the speed limit, especially the “quads” and those who drive must be controlled because usually some people who have a driver’s license get them, but others drive them. We should not discount the effort of the Traffic Police which is superhuman. With the few people the police have, the effort they make is tremendous. We have much less potential than last year and they are trying to maintain some balance in the Laganas area. There are many dangerous spots, from Bozaitis, the intersection for Kalamaki, at the Tsoukala intersection, in the central square towards the sea and at the “Stavros” position. We have asked for a hub to be built both there and opposite the old City Hall. We have been promised that something will be done for the two junctions in the position opposite the City Hall and in the “Stavros” position.
Ambelokipi….
For his part, the president of the Local Community of Ambelokipi, Sotiris Sourbis, said: “There is madness. There are a lot of people on the island and many drivers are running at… a thousand miles an hour. Their mind is not on driving and we constantly have accidents. There are also many “quads” in circulation. For the main road, we have done everything to install traffic lights. This must be done to reduce the speed along the National Road of Zakynthos – Keri. We suffer in the village! God help us. I will ask the police to check my village for many issues. The traffic is now increasing and you understand what is going to happen. There is not one driver who keeps the 40-50 km speed limit. Every day ambulances are called and they sometimes don’t make it in time.”
In Kalamaki and Vassiliko…
Many traffic accidents occur in the summer with four-wheelers in Vasilikos and Kalamaki. The president of Kalamaki, Mr. Kontonis, said: “Since the road was built in Kalamaki, vehicles generally develop high speeds. We have asked for the input of the traffic police to come and do checks, which we have not seen. They tell us they have no staff. I believe that within the next few days something must be done so that we do not mourn more victims. We had victims before the road was built, let’s not have any now due to speed.”
Finally, the president of the Association of Tourism Professionals of Vasilikos “O Skopos”, Nikos Vardakastanis, appeals to drivers to observe the traffic code, who emphasizes that the situation with “quads” is tragic, since accidents occur almost every day, with drivers losing control of the vehicle, on Vasilikos road which has many twists and turns.
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Source in Greek :- https://www.imerazante.gr/
Main Feature photo:- Zakynthos Infoemer archives.
