The Government has reported on the work to implement Presidential Instruction No. Pr-3410 of December 22, 2012 (Clause 3, Subclause 22, Paragraph 4) to fulfill a range of road safety measures. In particular, the Government notes that the number of recorded traffic accidents decreased by 5.5% at the end of the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, and that the number of fatalities and injuries caused by these accidents decreased by 6.7% and 5%, respectively. The number of fatalities among children decreased by 4.9% The number of road traffic accidents involving fatalities and injuries among pedestrians fell by 11.3%, 9.9% and 11.4%, respectively.
The number of traffic accidents caused by drink drivers fell by 8.9%. The number of fatalities and injuries sustained during these accidents decreased by 7% and 9.5%, respectively.
Government Directive No. 313-r of March 6, 2013 approved the state programme Public Order and Crime Prevention. The programme’s measures aim to reduce the number of people killed in road accidents.
In March 2013, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met with the expert and academic communities and representatives of public organisations in order to identify the most pressing and topical problems in the field of road traffic safety and to map out approaches for solving them. Instructions have been issued to develop an institution of public control to monitor compliance with traffic regulations by road users, to create an atmosphere of zero tolerance for violators and to specify the unavoidability of punishment. The federal executive agencies concerned, in cooperation with State Duma deputies, have been instructed to define the concepts of “dangerous driving” and “careless driving” in the Russian legislation and to set out the penalties for these offences. Given the increasing number of incidents of drunk driving, the Government has supported proposals to specify tougher penalties for such offences. Comprehensive breathalyser checks for drivers are currently being introduced in accordance with a decision by the Government Commission on Road Traffic Safety.
The need has been noted to more actively promote responsible behaviour of road users and intolerance for aggressive behaviour through the use of educational programmes, publications and public service announcements.
These and other projects aimed at implementing a set of measures to ensure road safety form the basis of the draft federal targeted programme Improving Road Safety in 2013-2020.
