Ionian: 1,730 violations in a week of checks

One thousand seven hundred and thirty violations were recorded in 4,561 roadside vehicle checks on the Ionian islands during the week from 9 to 15 August 2026. The checks were carried out by services of the Police Directorates of Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Lefkada, as part of targeted road-safety operations during the peak period. The breakdown of violations by island shows 846 in Corfu, 367 in Zakynthos, 360 in Lefkada and 157 in Kefalonia, a picture that mainly reflects the volume of traffic and the number of visitors at each destination. Corfu accounts for almost half of the violations, which is consistent with it being the most populous and most visited island in the group.

The detailed record shows that the most frequent individual violation was failure to wear a protective helmet, with 358 cases. Next came 162 violations for speeding, 40 for failure to wear a seatbelt, 38 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 32 for driving without a licence, 21 for driving into oncoming traffic, 15 for lack of insurance, 12 for failure to undergo a technical inspection, 8 for mobile phone use, 7 for improper overtaking and 5 for running a traffic light. The remaining 1,032 are classified as other violations. The category of other violations mainly covers parking, signage and vehicle documentation issues.

The profile of the violations reflects the shape of traffic on the islands during the summer months. The wide availability of rented two-wheelers and quad bikes, combined with visitors who are often unfamiliar with the local road network, explains the predominance of helmet-related violations. Two-wheelers and the so-called “gourounes” are the main cause of serious injuries on the islands every summer, with hospital emergency departments recording an increased flow of cases from mid-July to the end of August. The obligation to wear a helmet applies to the passenger as well, while rented vehicles must be handed over with the necessary equipment.

Those responsible were issued the prescribed administrative fines and the checks are continuing. Care is needed not to confuse these data with another bulletin published almost simultaneously, which concerns a different time window, from 10 to 16 August, and a different targeted operation entitled «Zero tolerance for failure to wear a helmet»: that one recorded 1,383 checks and 349 helmet violations. The two numbers, 358 and 349, do not refer to the same set of checks. More in the Traffic and Transport section. The police directorates of the Ionian islands have announced that the targeted operations will continue until the end of the tourist season.