Akim of Atyrau region is concerned about increase in fatal accidents

Akim of the region Serik Shapkenov held a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Crime Prevention and Combating Corruption.

On the agenda are issues of road accident prevention in the region.

The head of the police department Nurkhat Orazbayev made a report on the state of road safety. According to him, over the past five months, there has been a decrease in the number of accidents by 5.4%, but the death rate has increased by 8.8%.

“Only for two days of the current month, in particular, on the 16th-17th, as a result of an accident that took place on the highways of republican significance (Dossor-Kulsary-Beineu and Aktobe-Atyrau-Astrakhan), 9 people died, 4 of which were minors. The main cause of the accident is the failure of drivers to comply with the speed limit, driving into the oncoming lane and the narrowness of roads of national significance. According to the standards, the daily traffic on the highways of republican and regional significance is 3,500 vehicles. However, today it is equal to 9,000. That is, the density of cars has tripled, which leads to an increase in the number of accidents,” N. Orazbayev said.

Head of the Department of the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the Atyrau Region Galymzhan Kusan noted that there is a constant analysis of road accidents, as a result of which people die or receive various injuries. According to the results of the monitoring, road accidents occur due to poor quality of road signs and pedestrian crossings, lack of traffic lights, non-regulation of the taxi service, lack of police measures to comply with traffic rules and ensure road safety.

“The main number of accidents, which is 48% of the total, took place in the city of Atyrau. Of these, 24% - with the participation of cars and 35% - with the participation of pedestrians. The analysis showed that work to ensure pedestrian safety needs to be improved. For example, due to the shortage of sidewalks in the spring-autumn period, it is not uncommon for pedestrians to cross the roadway. In addition, the quality of pedestrian crossings in the city does not hold water. Despite the presence of modern interactive installations, road markings are still applied by an outdated method. Over time, it is erased, which ultimately can lead to an accident. 90% of such facts took place on republican and interregional routes. According to statistics, 14% of the total number of accidents registered this year occurred with the participation of right-hand drive taxis,” G. Kusan said.

At the meeting, the regional akim noted the need to increase the responsibility of the heads of services responsible for road safety.

“The issues discussed today have been discussed for more than a year. However, there are no results from this. There are approved rules of the road. There must be discipline. We installed two-way lighting at 1,600 pedestrian crossings in the city. Now even on the narrow streets speed bumps are installed. The Sergek system was also installed on huge sums of money. How many patrol cars were purchased. Where are the results? Every year we allocate funds requested by the Police Department, and additionally provide money to increase the salary of police officers. The specialists responsible for road safety have no responsibility. If we create such conditions, but there is no result, then there are shortcomings in our work. Therefore, treat this issue with full responsibility,” S. Shapkenov emphasized.

Noting that the duty of the Akimat is to create conditions for ensuring road safety, the head of the region expressed his readiness to upgrade the material and technical base of the police. For example, on patrol cars it is necessary to install the Cyber-Sheriff on-board complex.

In addition, the akim of the region gave a number of instructions regarding the full equipping of the city of Kulsary with video surveillance cameras, increasing the number of traffic lights, installing road signs in areas with a high risk of accidents, increasing responsibility for livestock owners who graze along the roads, and regulating taxi services.