The president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the special envoy of the UN Secretary General for Road Safety and the former head of the Ferrari Formula 1 team, Jean Todt, spoke about the causes of high mortality on Russian roads.

According to him, the negative dynamics of security in Russia are formed by flaws in the education of drivers and pedestrians, driving while drunk, drivers using phones and shortcomings in the legal prosecution of violators.

“You have an extremely large number of people dying on the roads or injured,” Todt told RIA Novosti. However, the FIA ​​president added that Russia "has always been active and very interested in being among the leaders in ensuring road safety."

Todt expressed the opinion that it is necessary to educate people on road safety from a very young age. According to him, young people "absorb this information more easily and can pass it on even to their parents." Speaking about drunken driving, the UN special envoy suggested that the consequences of this phenomenon should also be discussed starting from school.

“You need to better maintain law and order, drive less while under the influence of alcohol, and not use the phone while driving,” Todt said. He also pointed out the imperfection of laws in the context of ensuring road safety in Russia, noting that "people don’t fasten in all cases when it should be done."

“I see a lot of speeding, I’m aware of cases of alcohol abuse while driving, and even pedestrians are sometimes a problem,” Todt said, adding that he advocates “severe consequences” for drunk drivers.

“Strict prosecution of the law is necessary,” he said.

The head of the FIA ​​pointed out the need for improvements in legislation in the field of traffic, in particular, in ensuring the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter owners.

“I urge: when you ride a bicycle or scooter, you should be wearing a helmet. Any road user must adhere to certain rules, ”said Todt.

Note that the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is working on amendments to the SDA, which regulate trips on scooters and hoverboards.

As it became known in October, a document in operation will oblige the owners of these vehicles to move along bicycle paths or along sidewalks at a speed of no more than 20 km / h, and if they are absent, drive onto the carriageway, but keep in the right lane.

“Much remains to be done”

The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy also suggested that if we compare the situation with road safety in Russia with the situation in Africa, then it has good positions, but if we take Sweden as a guide, the situation looks less optimistic.

At the same time, he pointed out that Russian departments, in particular, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, made great efforts to solve the problem of road safety. However, according to Todt, "there is still much to be done."

Todt's commentary on the road safety situation in Russia is timed to coincide with World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which is celebrated annually on the third Sunday of November.

Commenting on Todt’s opinion, the head of the Russian Federation of Car Owners of Russia, Sergey Kanaev, agreed with the head of the FIA ​​regarding the lack of education in the field of road safety. At the same time, the expert noted that in this case it should not only be about drivers.

“If we apply the statement to us, then we have more the problem of the formation of pedestrians. For example, they don’t know where to cross the road, ”the expert said in an interview with RT. He also spoke about his own vision of the key issues that determine the situation with mortality on the roads.

“What causes mortality in our country?” Uneducated pedestrians, this time. Departure into the oncoming lane, these are two. Alcoholic intoxication is three, it's three. And the quality of automotive coverage is four, ”Kanaev said.

Despite this, the head of the FAR is of the opinion that the situation with road safety in Russia is getting better.

“This trend can be seen with the naked eye, you don’t even need to look at the traffic police statistics. The dynamics of road safety, in any case, are positive. Not everything is so bad, ”Kanaev summed up.

Mortality is decreasing

The head of the Russian traffic police Mikhail Chernikov at the beginning of October this year said that over the past eight years, the number of deaths in road accidents on Russian roads has been halved.

According to him, measures to increase the security of road users are consistently taken at the highest political level.

“The most notable progress was achieved in preserving the life and health of vulnerable participants in the movement: among minors, the number of dead decreased by a third, pedestrians - by more than 40%,” Chernikov said.

  • AGN "Moscow"

He stressed that the corresponding results were achieved in the context of the growth of the fleet, which increased by 20% in the period mentioned by Chernikov.

The head of the traffic police linked success in this direction with the implementation of a number of federal targeted programs, in particular, “Improving Road Safety” for the periods from 2006 to 2012 and from 2013 to 2020.

We add that in the first half of 2019, according to the traffic police, in the country there were 70,151 accidents with victims, in which 6,763 people died and received various injuries, another 90,1 thousand. Mortality in this period decreased by 5% compared to the same period 2018 year.