About 40 percent of traffic accidents in Greece involve buses or trucks and twice as many people die in such crashes as in car accidents, according to figures made public yesterday.

Also, the buses and trucks in these crashes are five times more likely to be more than 15 years old, said the Association of Greek Car Importers (SEAA), which unveiled the statistics.

The car importers also pointed out that the average age of cars in Greece is much higher than that of the European Union – a fact that they suggested might be a problem for road safety.

The average Greek car is more than 10 years old but most cars in the EU are less than 5.5 years old.

If a car is newer it often means that it is safer, SEAA added.

SEAA said that about 240,000 cars should be taken off the road annually in Attica to account for vehicles that are succumbing to problems such as age and wear.

However, the organization said just 36,500 cars are taken out of circulation in the area every year.