The number of serious road accidents that occurred on the territory of the country during the period of the declared state of emergency from 14 March to 7 April 2020 decrased by 186, compared to the same period last year. While the traffic has decreased considerably due to calls to travel only in urgent cases, every day there is an average of 7 road accidents involving dead or injured people on the territory of the country, and more than 30 accidents only with material damage, shows a joint analysis of the period by the Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of the Interior, and State Agency “Road Safety”.
During this period, 20 people lost their lives on the road and more than 230 were injured. Drivers should not be tricked by reduced traffic. Traffic Police and State Agency “Road Safety” call for people to be tolerant and not to take risks on the road. In days where more pressure is expected to fall on our health system, it is important that we realize that the same emergency and medical teams respond to every road accident signal.
Despite the additional responsibilities of Traffic Police who are involved in assisting the work of the crossing points at the cities’ entrances and exits, they continue to exercise effective control on the road. More than 65,000 penal orders and tickets have been imposed only since the start of the state of emergency. Traffic rules violators should not rely on the fact that, due to the state of emergency, the control on the road has decreased.
It should be noted that, when compared with the data for the same period of last year, a decrease occurred in road trauma, in the number of both serious accidents and road fatalities and injuries. Similar comparisons in practice are not applicable, as traffick is much lighter, but people continue to lose their lives on the road. The strategic goal for European countries (and globally) is zero road fatalities and injuries.
Traffic Police and State Agency “Road Safety” call for all citizens in these days of emergency to be even more careful and responsible, not only to themselves, but to all other road users so that we can achieve this goal. We should remember that life has priority on the road!