This study is concerned with the identification of the safety level in two main conurbations in Cyprus. The study consists of two phases of which the paper describes the first one. The accident records of the cities of Nicosia and Limassol for the 1986-1990 period were studied using well constructed data bases. Both injuries and material damages were examined. A statistical analysis was performed separately for road intersections and road sections between intersections. Emphasis was placed on the extraction of useful information about the distribution of the total accident numbers, and the number of injuries per hour, day, year, age group etc. The following information was identified: a) the main causes; b) accident types; and c) black spots for both urban areas. It became clear that road safety in Cyprus needs to be studied carefully before any measures are to be taken to reduce the accident risk in Cyprian urban areas.
Abstract