Almost one-third of cyclists in accidents have been drinking
Prague, June 9 (ČTK) — Every third Czech cyclist who causes a traffic accident is drunk, daily Právo writes today, citing from the police statistics saying that cyclists’ driving mistakes claimed 27 lives in 2013.
In fact, cyclists must obey the same rules as car drivers and alcohol drinking is forbidden for cyclists even on field roads, Právo writes.
This spring, the fine weather attracted cycling fans outdoors sooner than in the previous years, Právo writes.
The data on cyclists’ road accidents look worse than last year when the bad weather lasted until the end of May, it adds.
“A large proportion of drunken-driving accidents is an unfavorable specific feature of accidents caused by cyclists,” police spokesman Jozef Bocán is quoted as saying.
Alcohol accounted for 30.2 percent of the total of 2,521 accidents caused by cyclists, Bocán said.
Along with the 27 lives, accidents with cyclists’ involvement also caused 296 serious and 1,977 light injuries last year, Právo writes.
Compared with the case in 2013, but also with previous years, this year’s results are tragic, Právo writes.
Since May, drunken cyclists have caused 231 accidents in which 11 eleven people suffered serious injuries and 195 people light injuries, it adds.
“The measured values of alcohol level in blood vary, but the usual quantity is 0.3 to 2.4 per mille,” traffic expert Milan Belka is quoted as saying.
“In addition, the bikes often do not have sufficient technical equipment and cyclists do not observe other traffic rules,” Belka said.
For insufficient equipment, a cyclist can be fined up to 2,000 Kč, Právo writes.
