Three people died in about 24 hours while trying to cross a street or avenue in Athens. In just five accidents, three more people were hospitalized, including a 70-year-old woman and a three-year-old child, who were hit by a motorcycle on Kifisias Avenue at the height of the national resistance.

As seen in the released video, the woman crossed Kifisias Avenue vertically from a point without crossing or signaling, causing the driver to drag her and the child away.

For his part, the driver of the ATV developed a high speed, being in the middle lane, as a result of which he did not have time to stop the vehicle in time.

“This particular traffic accident was shocking in every way. However, both the individual incident and the overall picture of recent years demonstrate two things. On one side of her need to create more intersections especially on big roads and on the other hand its necessity reduction in top speed on the city road network,” he tells K. Associate Professor of the National Technical University of Athens Konstantinos Kepatsoglu.

Evidence shows that pedestrian collisions – most often by two-wheelers – are not a new problem. Last year 105 pedestrians were mortally wounded when they tried to cross the street in Athens and 1578 people were injured.

Most pedestrians killed in a traffic accident last year were men over 50, and overall in 2021. 94 pedestrians died.

And while each case is different, experts believe Athens’ pedestrians are poorly protected by the city’s road network.

Pedestrian crossings and sidewalks are in need of repair.

Emphasizing that motorcycle riders are mostly those who go to extreme speeds within cities, he notes that There is an 80% chance of death or serious injury in the event of a pedestrian colliding with a two-wheeler when the driver is moving at 50 km/h.

“If the driver were driving at a speed of 30 km / h, then these chances would drop to 20%. Therefore it is very important reduce the speed limit from 40 km/h to 30 km/h.“, notes Mr. Cyanos.

Reduced speed limit and redesign

In addition to lowering the speed limit, which is perhaps the most basic measure to be put in place and enforced, transport experts point to the need for immediate redesign, mainly of pedestrians, signaling and crossings.

They themselves emphasize that there should be more markings that are visible to drivers, while they consider alarm system on Vasilisa Sofia in Kallimarmaro proposed to apply it in other areas. They note how important the redesign is to leveling crosswalks as well as widening sidewalks. Another suggestion is that municipalities, regions and associations seek to change the culture of road behavior through various actions, since various “bad habits”, such as the use of mobile phones, endanger both the drivers themselves and everyone else. citizens.

Graphics: Pavlos Methodius