281 persons deceased in 1851 traffic accidents since the beginning of this year

During the 10 months of this year, the Road Police have registered 1 851 traffic accidents, with a death toll of 281 persons and another 2308 injured. Head of the Informational Organization and traffic education of the Road Police Department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Iurie Untilov during a press conference on Friday, November 10, has appreciated as positive the fact that the number of persons deceased in traffic accidents decreases every year. He also mentioned that in 336 traffic accidents (or every fifth accident) involved drivers who hold licenses for less than a year, and every fourth accident was caused by an inexperienced driver. Drivers with licenses for up to three years have been involved in every third accident, and drivers with less than 5 year experience – in every second accident. The most wide spread traffic rule violation is speeding, which also caused 409 traffic accidents, violation of traffic rules – caused 197 accidents and driving while intoxicated - 160 accidents. Every second traffic accident is caused by these violations, the cited source mentioned. Untilov admitted that the Road Police “has to improve the traffic education of the citizens, especially children, and must aid drivers in increasing their abilities”. Considering this, he also expressed his discontent with the fact that although a Government Order stipulated that the Ministry of Education and Youth should introduce a compulsory traffic course in 1 to 9th grades, for unknown reasons the mentioned course is optional. If the courses were to be mandatory, the Ministry would have to edit books, that would guarantee a more efficient education, claimed Iurie Untilov, cited by Info-Prim Neo.