One in three drivers stopped in Attica over the last two weeks, which included the Easter and May Day holidays, had been involved in some kind of traffic offense, police said yesterday.

It has already been revealed that the exodus of millions of cars from Greek cities over Easter led to a number of problems on national roads but traffic police said yesterday that the drivers who remained in Athens caused plenty of problems of their own.

More than 49,000 vehicles were stopped by officers between Orthodox Palm Sunday on April 16 and May 1. Traffic police said that 18,295 offenses were recorded — 2,305 drivers, tempted by the empty roads in the city to step on the gas, were caught speeding; 1,648 drivers were not wearing seat belts, and 452 were found to be over the alcohol limit.