Making roads safer involves, in no small part, encouraging governments and policy makers to strengthen national road safety laws.
In recent weeks, EASST partner and Director of “Road Safety”, Chinara Kasambatova has been pursuing the Kyrgyz government to take up a new road safety agenda.
“Good laws relating to key risk factors can be effective at reducing road traffic injuries and deaths.”
WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015
On 28th March she participated in a parliamentary hearing regarding the current situation of road safety in the Kyrgyz Republic. Through Chinara’s participation, the following recommendations have been passed to the Parliament Committee on Transport, Communications, Architecture and Construction:
- Develop a National Strategy on Road Safety (this was recommended by the World Bank and Ministry of Transport in 2012, but never brought to fruition).
- Develop a National Programme on Road Safety, stating concrete plans for decreasing the number of deaths and injuries on the roads by 40-50% within a specific time frame and where the responsibilities of all involved parties are clearly stated.
- Create an independent research centre (or subdivision) to coordicate, research and analyse issues and questions related to road safety in the Kyrgyz Republic (recommendation: this could fall under the responsibilities of the Committee on Road Safety).
- Review the laws and normative legal acts related to road transport. Most of the current norms are out of date and do not relate to today’s reality.
- Review the laws and normative legal acts related to road transport in terms of entering the Eurasian Customs Union.
- Eradicate out-dated requirements and regulations in terms of fixing and constructing roads by developing new technical regulations & normative legal acts.
On 6th April, Chinara also spoke to Radio Libery/Azattyk Radio about the proposed reforms by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that will see the creation of a “universal patrol”, combining traffic police and the patrol service. The aim of this new body will be to a complex and well-rounded application of law and order within the served territory. She also discussed the importance of implementing the “Safe City” project, where CCTV will be installed on all roads.
You can listen back, here:
http://www.azattyk.kg/audio/27646743.html–
http://ru.sputnik.kg/Kyrgyzstan/20151023/1019552669.html#ixzz45W4lwEr8
