Driving in Cyprus

According to the existing legislation, It is prohibited to drive if the levels of alcohol in the blood or breath are above the admissible limit.
The admissible limit in the blood is 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (BAC 0.5 mg/ml). The admissible limit in the breath is up to 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of exhaled air.
In 2012, the House of Representatives passed amendments governing the issuing of fines. With these, the issuing of a fine when driving under the influence of alcohol became possible for the first time. The fines were separated in gradients, since July, 2012, depending on the quantity of alcohol in a breath sample when it is more than the specified, by law, limit of 22 μg but less than 70μg.
Since the 6th of May, 2015, a new alcohol limit has been prescribed for the following categories of drivers:
Persons who have been holders of a driving licence for less than three years, learner drivers, persons driving motorbikes, motorcycles, tricycles, quadricycles, drivers of lorries of a maximum weight that exceeds 3.5 tons, drivers of buses with more than eight passenger seats, not including the driver’s seat, taxi drivers when driving on duty and drivers of vehicles that carry dangerous cargo.
The new prescribed limit for the above mentioned categories is 9 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath or 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
Similar amendments governing the issuing of fines for the above special categories of drivers are expected to be passed in the near future, after a proposal that was submitted by the Police, in June, 2015.
For those offences that a police officer or the court may impose penalty points, there are legal provisions in article 20A, of the Motor Vehicles Law (Law 86/1972, as amended). Among these offences is the driving under the influence of alcohol and the refusal or avoidance of a driver to give a Breath Sample for preliminary or final testing.
Those penalty points accumulated electronically on a driver ́s licence, after the payment of penalty notices are not considered to be convictions. Only court decisions are considered to be convictions. Nevertheless, all penalty points are considered seriously when a decision is going to be taken for the revocation of a driving licence.
The aim for the future is to develop the use of alcohol interlocks in rehabilitation programmes for high level offenders and for repeated offenders.
In Cyprus, according to the statistics available, during the period 2011 – 2023, driving under the under the Influence of Alcohol was the most serious cause of fatal road traffic collisions: 28.96% of all fatal road traffic collisions occurred due to this traffic violation.
The aim is to intensify enforcement of drink driving laws by setting targets for minimum levels of alcohol checks of the motorist population: 1 in 3 motorists should be checked each year.