NICOSIA – Living up to his bad reputation for deadly roads, 51 people have died so far in motor vehicle accidents on Cyprus, the latest a 21-year-old man whose car plummeted off a 190-meter cliff, a passenger somehow surviving.

They were driving on the Spilia-Kannavia mountain road with Traffic Police Chief Yiannis Georgiou telling CyBC radio they weren’t wearing seat belts. The cause of the accident wasn’t given, with The Financial Mirror reporting on the toll.

There were 49 road deaths in 2018 and this year’s tally shows the mounting number of fatalities while driving, with 45 deaths in 2014 and 57 the following year and then 46 in 2016 and 53 in the year 2017.

The European Union said member states should devise ways to halve the number of road fatalities with the bloc’s statistics agency Eurostat saying Cyprus is far above the average of 49 per million inhabitants, at 62.

Cyprus’ Youth Council has launched a zero casualties’ campaign under the slogan #takecare, inviting young drivers to become so-called “Chiefs” of people who have experienced traffic accidents and become involved in trying to stop them.