DEATH ON THE ROADS

The statistics are horrifying. According to the Main Directorate of the Azerbaijani  State Highway Patrol (ASHP MD), in the first half-year of 2012 in 1,278 road accidents 436 people were killed and 1,361 received bodily injuries of varying severity. And 533 road accidents, in which there were 148 fatalities and 584 people were injured, were registered in Baku. Despite the fact that in comparison with the same period last year the number of such accidents was reduced by 86, the situation regarding road fatalities in Azerbaijan gives cause for serious concern.

What kinds of road accidents occur? Head-on collisions account for 461 cases (141 with a fatal outcome and 639 with injuries), running over pedestrians - 466 (148 with a fatal outcome and 352 with injuries) and overturned vehicles - 132 (69 fatalities and 139 injured). But most distressing of all is that in these accidents 21 children were killed and 97 sustained injuries of varying severity.

The dynamics and frequency of these road accidents are also horrifying. For example, on 10 July alone in Azerbaijan there were 12 road accidents, as a result of which seven people were killed and 19 injured. As the Azerbaijani ASHP MD reports, most road accidents occur as a result of gross and thoughtless violation of the Highway Code - speeding, drunk driving and driving into oncoming traffic. This statistic in itself is a horrifying truth. Each bare figure means a life suddenly cut short or a mutilated body. Someone has lost a father, someone else a mother, a husband, a wife, a child…Every year throughout the world about 1.3 million people are killed and another 50 million injured and disabled as a result of road accidents. According to the World Health Organization, road accidents are the first most significant cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24.

The culture of driving

R+ has already raised this problem, asking the question as to how the number of vehicle accidents and death on the roads can be reduced. How can we inculcate a culture of safe driving? Why is this happening? It is because some drivers forget about the need to apply the elementary rules of the Highway Code and how to handle a vehicle. Cars are frequently being driven by inexperienced novices, taking the wheel the day after passing their test which does not mean they are fit to drive. It is even worse if they haven't passed the driver's test. Let's be honest, instances where people have qualified to drive illicitly are not the exception in our country, just as in other countries. And these pseudo-drivers, who officially are fully entitled to drive a vehicle, are virtually unable to tell one road sign from another, not to mention carriageway signs which they interpret as some asphalt surface design element. Moreover, all this is fed by a blatant lack of culture and egotism - "I can do anything I like in my car." Public transport drivers behave even more outrageously. They drive too fast and inappropriately, despite the size of their vehicles, and they have no respect for their passengers…Some bus drivers even race among themselves.

A separate subject is that of pedestrians, some of whom have too much self-confidence. A unique category of pedestrians are those who blindly dash across the road and automatically come to a sticky end. They don't know the meaning of a "zebra crossing" or a subway and an elevated crossing simply doesn't exist as far as they are concerned. And they cross the road at random, not in groups, as they do in all civilized countries, but where there is a no-go area. And some drivers often ignore pedestrian crossings. As a result of this shambles, the driver cannot guess what the pedestrian is going to do and the pedestrian cannot work out what the driver is doing, which ends up in another road accident, often leading to a fatal outcome.

Penalties

On 1 February 2006 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an instruction on improving Baku's transport system, according to which bridges and pedestrian crossings would be built and new roads put down. One of the main points of this instruction was ensuring safety on the roads and tightening penalties for drivers who violate the Highway Code. The most important point in the question of ensuring road safety and eliminating congestion remains drivers' discipline. After all, alongside problems of infrastructure, the main source of traffic jams are bad drivers, although, despite the fact that drivers often violate the Highway Code, on the whole the situation in Azerbaijan on the roads is no more complex than in other countries. However, until now the problem remains of convincing Azerbaijan's drivers to use their seat belts, because many believe them to be useless, the ASHP MD claims, whereas the law clearly states that seat belts should be tightened while still stationary. Moreover, a driver should not only make sure he himself is belted up but that all his passengers are, too. As far as pedestrian crossings are concerned, an official spokesman of the Highway Patrol admits that not all pedestrians cross the road in the right place. But, on the other hand, if a pedestrian steps on a "zebra crossing", the driver must give way. However, if a pedestrian is not confident that he will be able to cross the road, then he is the one who should give way. Furthermore, drivers almost never, when turning left or right from the carriageway, give way to a pedestrian or cyclist. All this shows that many drivers have no basic respect for the pedestrian who, in essence, is the most vulnerable link in the traffic.

At the same time, the ASHP MD is continuing to create projects to tighten control over supervision of the Highway Code. These include using the latest technology, such as installing cameras and observation monitors on roads, ensuring single centralized control in areas where there is a build-up of traffic and installing radar and speed cameras. 

The aim is to punish offenders and take disciplinary action against them and to ensure the uninterrupted flow of traffic. In addition, by introducing changes to the Azerbaijani Code on Administrative Offences, fines have been increased for violating some rules of the Highway Code. For example, the penalty for driving a vehicle without a seat belt has been increased from AZN 15 to AZN 40, speeding at 10-30 km/h by AZN 20 (previously the penalty was 15-20), at 30-60 km/h - to AZN 100 (previously 20-40) and over 60 km/h - to AZN 150 (previously 40-60).

The penalty for driving a vehicle without a licence has been increased from AZN 60 to AZN 100, for a repeat offence of this regulation - from AZN 80-100 to AZN 200, and for causing slight bodily injuries without possessing a licence or causing material damage to a person - up to AZN 400 (previously 140-180).

For driving a vehicle in a drunken condition as a result of the consumption of alcohol, drugs, psychotropic or other potent substances an individual, not in possession of a licence, faces a penalty of AZN 250. Previously it was 150-200. Moreover, the size of the penalties for infringing the rules about stopping and parking has also been increased. For this type of infringement the fine is AZN 20 (previously 15-20). The penalty for stopping or parking at bus stops or at a distance of less than 15m from road signs has been increased to AZN 40 (previously 15-20), The size of the penalty for driving along a one-way street, as well as for driving against the traffic flow, while ignoring the horizontal markings, has been fixed at AZN 100 (previously 20-40). According to another change in the code, penalty points in connection with the restriction of the right to drive a vehicle have been increased from 10 to 12.

However, it is not felt that such a slight increase in the penalties will solve the problem of road safety. For Azerbaijan's motorists to come to their senses the size of the penalties should be increased substantially, starting from AZN 1,000, as is the case, for example, in those European countries where there are very high penalties for breaking the Highway Code. In the Czech Republic for driving without dipped lights at any time of the day or night or without a seat belt the penalty is about 800 euros. Basically, and not just in Europe, but in the West in general, penalties for speeding are very high. The maximum fine was imposed in Finland and was $200,000, because in that country the penalty is calculated as a percentage of earnings, and here a young male heir who earned $11m that year was penalized. In Norway they exact a penalty of 10% of a person's annual income plus arrest. In the US it is easy to get a penalty of $2,500; in Canada it can theoretically be $25,000. In France, Switzerland and Italy the highest rate is $2,100, in Germany - $623. In Britain exceeding the speed limit by 20 km/h means a penalty of 75 euros, and by more than 50 km/h - 2,900 euros. In Italy if you reverse on the motorway it will cost you 390 euros. In Spain sharp braking without reason (for example, in front of a speed trap) costs 200 euros. An unfixed seat belt will cost you 500 euros and the same amount is imposed for driving a vehicle without a licence. We are quoting these figures so that the reader may understand how seriously the West treats a driver who infringes the right of others to live. And if a similar practice is introduced in Azerbaijan many violators of the Highway Code will very soon lose the desire to "bypass" the rules.