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Even after lives were lost and families shattered, Cyprus’ Road Transport Department failed to properly inform the public about the dangers of defective Takata airbags. That chilling reality came into sharper focus Monday, as the head of the department, George Loukas, appeared before an investigative committee probing how thousands of recalled vehicles stayed on the road.
With four folders of documents and two top aides beside him, Loukas admitted what many already suspected: before 2024, the department had done the bare minimum to warn citizens, despite repeated red flags.
“We could’ve done more”
Loukas was candid, if not entirely apologetic. “More could have been done,” he said, acknowledging that the department’s approach was limited to reposting EU alerts or sending occasional notices, far from the urgent, widespread communication one might expect when lives were on the line.
He admitted that TOM didn’t carry out its own risk assessments, didn’t block the registration of recalled cars, and had no role in the recall process until after it was triggered by manufacturers.
“We were never told about Lugo”
One of the most damning moments came when Loukas was asked about the 2017 case of Alexander Lugo, seriously injured by a Takata airbag. Loukas said TOM never received the official report from other state services. The chairman of the committee, visibly unimpressed, didn’t let that slide.
Old systems, ''grey'' imports, and 81,000 vehicles at risk
Adding to the dysfunction: outdated computer systems, limited staff, and the challenge of “grey” market vehicle imports, cars brought into Cyprus independently of dealers, making them harder to trace or recall. Loukas said TOM had flagged this to the EU, but it remains a gap in the system.
At the peak of the crisis, 81,000 vehicles in Cyprus were under recall. That number is now below 59,000, with around 8,000 taken off the road, but tens of thousands are still out there.
Loukas insisted the department can sort this out in eight months “if there’s full commitment.” That’s a big if.
“The dealer should notify owners”
Loukas said TOM’s position is that it’s not the department, but the importers and dealers who should be the main point of contact for recall notices. That’s how it works in other EU countries, he argued. But victims’ families, and the investigative committee, weren’t convinced.
Committee Chairman Michalakis Christodoulou summed it up bluntly: “I’m not satisfied.” And after years of silence, missteps, and missed warnings, neither is the public.
