Police statistics, respect pedestrians or face fines!

Police statistics, respect pedestrians or face fines!

A spike in recent accidents involving pedestrians getting injured has caused police to take a number of measures, including administrative measures such as fining drivers.

The Road Police has spent about 2 hours monitoring traffic in some of Tirana's road axes, noticingthat a significant number of drivers do not respect pedestrian rights at zebra crossings. For this reason, 35 vehicle drivers have been handed fines. 

"The time spent was enough to analyze the trend of some of the major road rule violations, and to understand the low level of road education. 

"It is clear how small an importance is placed on human life by so many vehicle drivers in the capital," declared a police statement.

Only for the first 6 months of this year, the Tirana Police Station has collected the following data:

-236 vehicle drivers arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, 44 more than the same period last year, and

-10 000 drivers punished for mobile use while driving, 2900 more than the same period last year

"Despite us continuing with the use of wheel clamps to prevent illegal parking, both instances of this wrong-doing as well as illegal overtaking are on the rise," further explained the police statement.

Police say there has been drastic drop in the number of findings for non-use of the safety belt, with 8500 less penalties applied than when compared to the same period last year. 

This indicates a positive response from road users regarding the obligation to secure the safety belt, a reaction that police and concerned citizens hope will also be reflected with the other road safety rules.

EMISIONET