Crete car accidents - One dead every two days

The statistics are quite shocking. One person dies on the roads in Crete every two days and three are seriously injured.

The «massacre» which occurs on the roads of the island and the importance of emergency pre-hospital and hospital care was reported yesterday by president of the nonprofit company «Pre-hospital care», Dr. Dimitris Vourvachakis.

Dr Vourvachakis stressed that «In Greece, and Crete in particular, a massacre takes place on the roads. As you know every second day in Crete we have one dead. For every dead we have three serious injuries. It is important to learn to care for accident victims at the scene of an accident, in order to avoid extensive neurological problems.», said Dr. Vourvachakis. If correct first aid is given in the first instance at the scene of an accident, by trained professionals, then neurological damage can often be limited.

Asked to comment on the quality of the road network of Crete, Mr. Vourvachakis noted that « It is one of the worst there is. Statistics show that once a separator barrier is installed on dangerous stretches of the national road, the death rate greatly reduces. The installation of a separator barrier along the National road would dramatically reduce accidents and deaths».
He, however, hastened to point out that «80% of road accidents take place in the city because of violations of the Highway Code. It is a question, then, not only of roads but also of education. I think that driver education should start at primary school. ».
Source: Haniotika Nea

See the Driving in Crete page for tips on staying safe on Crete's roads.