The idea of road quality being a major contributing factor to road traffic incidents in the north was rubbished on Tuesday by its ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli.

Speaking in ‘parliament’, he cited a study carried out by two professors at the European University of Lefke, which said almost 90 per cent of road traffic incidents in the north are caused by driver error.

“Alcohol, speed, and phone use have become a disease in this country,” he said, adding that just 0.7 per cent of road traffic accidents in the north come as a result of poor road quality, according to the study.

“Of course, we need to build our roads better and we are trying to do this as much as possible, but it should be known that traffic accidents occur due to our drivers making serious mistakes,” he added.

Arikli said road deaths in the north have reached an “unbearable level, with 37 people losing their lives in the space of eight months”.

He said police traffic inspections were not taking place as frequently as necessary due to there not being enough police.

In the same session, he said “there is no budget” for Turkish Cypriot police to drug test drivers, despite the relevant legislation being introduced to allow them to do so.