More Children Die in Road Accidents
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, January 30
(TBILISI)--The number of fatal road accidents involving children remains high in Georgia.
Despite reduction in the number of car accidents, child mortality rate has increased, “Eka Laliashvili, the chairperson of the board of the Georgian Alliance for Safe Roads stated.
She said the road accidents have been reduced thanks to the new traffic regulations, which envisaged installment of smart cameras on the roads and other restrictions.
The number of deaths and injuries has also been decreased; however, the number of children's death in accidents increased.
"We stated in 2017 that in the course of the ongoing reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of traffic accidents decreased by 12-14 percent . Among them, the number of the dead and injured has been reduced, which is a big success.”
“However, despite the general decline, the growth of death of children is still a problem. 17 children under the age of 16 died in 2016 and 23 - in 2017. Some measures should be taken in this direction. Neither consciousness nor the legislative framework are adequate for ensuring safe transportation of children in the country,” Laliashvili.
She stressed the importance of using the child’s special seat and noted that according to international experience, the car seats decrease the risk of injury by 60 percent during the collision.
The statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reads that in the period of January-September 2017, 384 people died and 6,280 were injured in road accidents.
During the 9-month period of the last year, 4,436 road accidents were registered.
A total of 117 traffic accidents took place because of the drunk driving, during which 9 were killed and 174 people were injured.
Over 291 traffic accidents occurred due to speeding, which claimed 52 lives and injured 460 people.
