The Assistant Director of the Road Safety Agency (ABS), Mirko Koković, stated today that work is being done on the introduction of a system of stationary and mobile radars—invisible radars for measuring average speeds on main roads where there is a frequent number of traffic accidents with fatal outcomes.
“The traffic police, in cooperation with the agency, are currently introducing instantaneous measurement and average speed measurement on such sections. In addition to speed, they measure mobile phone use and seat belt use. These are some of the mistakes we make and because of which an exceptionally large number of persons die annually, specifically just because of the seat belt, which we do not use sufficiently,” Koković told TV Prva.
Speaking about seat belt use, he pointed out that every third person—as well as the driver and passenger in 85 percent of cases—uses a seat belt, which, as he assessed, is insufficient because the seat belt has a very large impact on saving lives.
Koković pointed out that the belt reduces mortality by 50 percent in the front seats and up to 75 percent in the back seat, but that traffic police sanction about 150,000 drivers every year for not using a seat belt.
“The estimate is that somewhere more than 100 human lives would have been saved if they had used a seat belt. On an annual level, we lose somewhere around 500 persons in traffic alone, and if we solved the belt problem—and we can solve it,” said Koković.
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According to him, the system itself is designed precisely so that drivers will no longer have the opportunity to use Viber groups where they receive information about the locations of duty traffic patrols, because the radars will be hidden in street furniture.
“Simply, you will not be able to see, to recognize that it is a device for measuring speed, and the very certainty of punishment, if you do not respect traffic regulations, will be extremely high,” he added.
Regarding the numbers recorded during the year, he said that as of today, 476 persons have lost their lives since the beginning of the year, and 32,000 traffic accidents have been recorded in which 17,000 people were injured.
“This is statistics that we must change, and a challenging year is ahead of us, primarily due to the passing of the new Law on Traffic Safety, from which we expect major changes. The establishment of radars, both stationary and mobile, especially mobile radars—because you will not know, they will work from 00 to 24, they will be everywhere, you will not know where they are, the presence of a traffic police officer next to them is not necessary,” said Koković.
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Source: Euronews; Photo: RINA