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Kalinak: Number of Victims on Roads Fell by 37.8% in 2009 Year-on-Year
Thursday 04 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 4 (TASR) - The number of road-accident fatalities in 2009 fell by 37.8 percent year-on-year to 347, according to police statistics presented by Interior Minister Robert Kalinak and Police Corps Vice-chairman Stanislav Jankovic at a press conference on Thursday in Bratislava.
"Last year (2009) was one that exceeded our expectations," said Kalinak, citing the new Road Act as the reason. Kalinak expressed his hopes to reduce the number of people killed on roads to 305 - a figure resulting from a commitment made by the Interior Ministry in 2002 to reduce the number of victims to one half at that time (610).
Kalinak said an obstacle to ensuring safer roads is the rising number of cars and drivers on the roads. According to the statistics, there were 2.6 million licensed drivers in Slovakia in 2002 and that number is now 3.3 million; and the number of cars has doubled in the past 20 years.
The number of people who suffered severe and minor injuries on the roads, as well as the number of accidents causing injuries dropped by 22 percent y-o-y in 2009. This means that – after Hungary – Slovakia is the most successful country among its neighbours in fulfilling its commitments to making the roads safer.
The Road Act, in effect since February 2009, makes it compulsory to keep headlights on year round, bans the use of mobile phones while driving and introduces heftier fines for driving under the influence. The Act decreased the speed limit in villages and towns from 60km/h to 50km/h. Moreover, if the road is covered with snow or ice, drivers are only allowed to drive if using winter tires (with new specifications on the depth of the tread). It also obliges cyclists to wear helmets outside villages and towns, where traffic is expected to be moving faster.
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