Road fines may be increased in Azerbaijan

The low fine allows drivers to block pedestrian crossings on the roads, Head of the Interior Ministry Public Relations Department, Arastun Majidov, told Trend News on Aug. 27.

Article 151.1 of the Administrative Offences Code sets a 15-20 manat fine for drivers violating traffic signs, blocking pedestrian crossing and rules for waiting, parking and stopping.

The head of the department said that they have already sent to the relevant bodies a package of proposals to increase fines and this issue will be considered in the future. Majidov said that this fine is 80-100 percent higher in European countries, such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, than in this country.

"These countries restrict the rights of drivers repeatedly violating this rule. But in Azerbaijan, a driver like this can avoid facing responsibility, by paying the fine," the head of the department stressed.

Majidov noted that in 6 months of 2009 over 30,000 drivers were involved in administrative liability for violating rules for pedestrian crossings. "Under the rules, a driver should park 5 meters from a pedestrian crossing to provide easy access for pedestrians. However, drivers block pedestrian crossings and create problems," Majidov said.

Majidov expressed his anxiety that pedestrians, in turn, also violate traffic rules. "To facilitate pedestrians' movement, new underground and overhead passages have been recently put into operation. Despite this, pedestrians do not use these passages. According to the statistics, pedestrians themselves cause traffic accidents. Such accidents always occur at places not designated for pedestrians," the Central Police Office's official said.

Legislation imposes a 10-manat fine for pedestrians violating traffic rules. Majidov stressed how low this fine is and connected it with objective and subjective reasons. "Hence pedestrians are not interested in observing the traffic rules," he added.

According to the statistics, 165 pedestrian died and 424 were injured as a result of 548 traffic accidents involving pedestrians. 30 of the pedestrians who died and 95 of those injured ones were children. For the most part pedestrian traffic accidents took place in the Sabunchu, Narimanov, Khatai and Sabail districts of Baku.

According to the chief of the department, traffic policemen are tasked with traffic control on the roads of these districts, where most the pedestrian traffic accidents were observed. Majidov mentioned that the number of the pedestrian traffic accidents drops yearly and the publicity had worked well.

The uncivilized actions of the pedestrians and drivers have become commonplace, lawyer and expert, Aslan Ismayilov, told Trend News. Aslanli said he had thus far not witnessed any punishment for drivers blocking pedestrian crossings. He blamed traffic police for the accidents.

"If the police fight back against such drivers, it would be possible to achieve effective results. The traffic police should look at the situation on the roads and in the districts where the most accidents take place and determine the reasons of traffic accidents which kill pedestrians. The police should also develop concrete proposals to solve the problem. But I am yet to see such a situation," Ismayilov said.

Ismayilov thinks that informing people is the second solution for the problem.

/Trend News/