Police fined more than 450 people for various traffic offences in the last 24 hours, as part of efforts to prevent serious and fatal road accidents.

The announcement came as a 25-year-old woman was hospitalised in serious condition after a traffic accident in Trachoni-Limassol road on Thursday.

The offences included 280 violations of the speed limit, 33 drivers and passengers who failed to wear a seatbelt, 16 people who were using their mobile phone or holding other objects while driving, 25 traffic signals violations and 20 parking violations.

Another six people were fined for driving without insurance, three who were found without a valid licence, eight whose vehicles were not registered and six who were driving a car declared immobilised by the department of road transport. Twenty-three people were also found driving without road tax.

According to the police, among the people fined was a 19-year-old at 2pm on Thursday after he was found driving 177kph in Larnaca-Ayia Napa motorway (with maximum speed limit 100kph). The young man did not have a driving licence or insurance.

Police also fined the 25-year-old passenger who was the owner of the vehicle and allowed the teenager to drive.

Around midnight in Limassol, police also fined a 40-year-old drunk driver on Makarios Avenue after he ran a red light. The man was not wearing failed to wear a seatbelt while the final reading of the alcohol test showed 85μg, instead of 9μg which is the permissible limit for new drivers. The 40-year-old had obtained his licence a year ago.

Positive in a preliminary narcotest was a 22-year-old driving along the Paphos motorway just before 9pm on Thursday night, police said. However, the final laboratory result is still expected.