Senate: traffic rules need to be improved

On July 30, the seventeenth plenary session of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis heard reports from the Minister of Internal Affairs on the state of crime prevention.

“It is necessary to improve traffic rules in the new version, approved by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of December 24, 2015, No. 370,” the statement said.

As it is reported, some paragraphs of these rules have been replaced, therefore the references in the relevant paragraphs refer to completely different ones. Also, even though the new traffic rules were approved in 2015, exams for a driving license are carried out according to the regulations of the State Testing Center developed on July 29, 2011, and approved by order of the Minister of the Interior on February 23, 2011.

“Test questions contradict traffics regulations, and are also morally and technically obsolete,” the senators noted.

The conditions for passing the practical exams for a driving license also fail to meet the requirements. The task of building modern educational roads in Karakalpakstan and the regions was determined in the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 990 of December 5, 2018, but has not yet been completed in any region. As a result, low-quality education of drivers leads to road accidents.

In addition, effective control over passenger safety is not fully established, over the 6 months of 2021, a total of about 3.5 million traffic violations were recorded throughout Uzbekistan, which is 40.8% more than in 2020.

Thus, 3,170 citizens were injured and 954 people died in 3,754 traffic accidents caused by the traffic rule violators. Unfortunately, 542 accidents involved children: 458 minors were injured and 104 died.

Compared to 2020, the total number of traffic accidents increased by 57.2%, the number of deaths - by 30.5%, and the number of the injured - by 38.1%.

Road accidents involving children, meanwhile, increased by 40.8%, injuries - by 44.9%, and the death toll - by 33.3%.