Greeks are pretty passionate about cars. But sometimes their appreciation of all things motorsports can get out of hand…According to Eurostat data from 2018, the country ranked 7th among the EU’s 32 member states with 65 victims per 1 million inhabitants.
But did you know when the first car accident, fatal at that, was officially recorded in Greece? It happened on Sunday, March 4, 1907, at approximately 11:30 in the morning, on Syggrou Avenue after Hadrian’s Gate at the height of the FIX factory.
The perpetrator, according to the announcement of the Police, was the then minister and MP of Fthiotida, Nikolaos Simopoulos. According to the Police, the minister was following at a distance of about 30 meters the car of Prince Andreas (grandfather of the current Charles of England) moving towards Paleo Faliro.
At the height of FIX, as the official announcement of the Police said, the minister, passing the car of the prince, hit a 25-year-old woman named Efrosini Vamvaka and passed over her in his car. The prince’s car then also passed over the unfortunate woman, although he tried to slow down.
The accidents caused quite a controversy in the press of the day, as it was reported that the victim was probably killed by the prince and that Simopoulos simply took responsibility for the accident, in order to “cover” Prince Andreas.
The next day, the Commander of the Police called the seven (7) drivers-owners of cars in Athens at that time and gave them very strict recommendations to drive carefully.
The fatal accident was all over the frontlines of the newspapers, with titles reading: “Seven cars are circulating and we are mourning victims … Imagine what will happen if they become seventy! ….”
