"In Ukraine, over the past year alone, almost 32 thousand people were injured on the roads, and more than 3.5 thousand citizens - drivers, passengers, and pedestrians - unfortunately, died. On average, 1 accident occurs every 3 minutes, 1 person is injured every 15 minutes, and every 3 hours, unfortunately, one person dies," reported Tetyana Kovalchuk.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that the main risk factors for serious accidents are exceeding the permitted speed by drivers, their consumption of alcoholic beverages before starting to move, as well as drivers' neglect of basic safety measures such as seat belts.
At the same time, the accident statistics in Ukraine are improving, and the system of automatic recording cameras plays a significant role in this. A total of 130 such complexes have already been installed. If on the first day of operation the cameras recorded 57 thousand traffic violations, now it is on average 7 thousand per day.
"If we compare with last year, the number of fatal accidents decreased by 17 percent, and the number of accidents with injured persons decreased by 14%. That is, 133 fewer people died and 1010 fewer people were injured. Of course, we expect that with an increase in the number of such recording cameras, mortality on the roads will correspondingly decrease by more than half," stated Tetyana Kovalchuk.
The Deputy Minister also reminded that in Ukraine fines for traffic violations have significantly increased. Thus, for an unfastened seat belt, you will now have to pay 510 hryvnias. Responsibility for drunk driving has also been seriously strengthened. According to Tetyana Kovalchuk, the increase in fines should lead to a reduction in mortality on the roads by about 15%.
