The Road Safety Unit of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works was established in 2004 and comprises today of the head of the unit, who is a civil engineer with long experience and training in the field of road safety, a traffic engineer and an administrative officer.
The Road Safety Unit is responsible for handling all matters in the field of road safety which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works. The Ministry of Trasport, Communications and Works is the competent authority for road safety and the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works chairs the Road Safety Council which is the national statutory body for the coordination of all government authorities involved in road safety.
The Road Safety Unit functions, in addition to its other responsibilities, as the supporting unit of the Road Safety Council for the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Road Safety 2005-2010. The unit is the executive, administrative and coordinating instrument of the Road Safety Council.
Within the framework of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Road Safety 2005-2010, six interdepartmental thematic committees have been established. The committees are the fora in which the consultations for the design, implementation and evaluation of road safety actions between the Ministry of Communications and Works and the authorities involved, take place. The six committees are the following:
• Committee for Road Infrastructure Safety.
• Committee for Vehicle Safety.
• Committee for Training and Testing Candidate Drivers.
• Committee for Legislation, the Road Traffic Code and Police Enforcement.
• Committee for Public Road Safety Information and Road Safety Education.
• Committee for Emergency Medical Care.
These committees are chaired by the Head of the Road Safety Unit. The unit performs a coordinating and guiding role by analyzing road accident data and collecting and analyzing other relevant data from Cyprus and abroad.
The Road Safety Unit represents Cyprus in various committees and working groups for road safety of the European Union. Specifically the head of the unit is a member of the Road Safety High Level Group of the General Directorate for Transport and Energy (DG TREN) and the two officers of the unit participate in two working groups for the establishment of the European Road Safety Observatory. The unit is also connected to the European road accident database (CARE) and performs relevant analyses.
The unit cooperates closely with the Police and the Ministry of Education and Culture for the drafting of road safety books for teachers and students and for the introduction of road safety education in public schools.
The Road Safety Unit also drafts proposals for new legislation which relate specifically to road safety and cooperates with the Police and the Department of Road Transport of the Ministry of Communications and Works for the drafting and publication of a new Road Traffic Code and for its regular updating.
The unit organizes various road safety awareness activities, road safety seminars and road safety education activities.
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