Every year hundreds of people are killed and thousands are injured in road traffic accidents in Tajikistan. Experts attribute this to non-compliance with traffic rules by drivers and pedestrians, illegal purchase of a driver’s license, as well as inadequate road infrastructure in the country. The authorities say they are taking measures to prevent accidents.
Law enforcement officials in Tajikistan say the majority of road traffic accidents are caused by pedestrians, speed driving, racing, and road collisions. More than 50% of accidents, according to the State traffic police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are automobile-pedestrian accidents. 53% of accidents were caused by speeding, and about a third of them were caused by driving into the opposite lane and violating traffic rules.
According to WHO experts, the socio-economic situation in the country can also affect the death rate on the roads. For example, over 90% of road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Member of Parliament Jamshed Murtazazoda in his speech at an event dedicated to road safety in 2019 said that "the main cause of road accidents is a deliberate violation of safety rules by drivers and pedestrians."
In an interview with CABAR.asia, Kurbon Abdulloyev, a road engineer and veteran of the transport sector, said that the main cause of accidents is young people who obtained a driver's license through bribes.
Abdulloyev noted that during Soviet Union times, there was a traffic safety engineer in all motor depots, who always conducted explanatory work and examined drivers.
“The learning process continued. Drivers were always reminded to comply with traffic rules. Now this is not the case, after obtaining a driver's license, drivers do not even think about training,” said our interlocutor.
«Safe City» has not reduced the number of accidents
The authorities say they are taking measures to prevent or reduce road accidents in the country based on international experience. They cite the «Safe City» system as an instance.
It was introduced in October 2013 in Dushanbe and 855 video cameras were installed at 75 crossroads and central streets of the capital. This measure was supposed to solve the problem of traffic violations and road accidents. But experience shows that for most drivers, surveillance cameras are not an obstacle.
In 2017, the Code on Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Tajikistan was amended to prevent accidents and comply with traffic rules by drivers and pedestrians.
According to it, violation of the traffic rules while intoxicated, resulting in the death of a person by negligence or causing serious harm to human health, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 to 10 years with the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for 10 years.
The term of deprivation of a driver's license has also been increased from 2 to 10 years. Drunk driving is punishable by a fine of 300 calculation indicators, that is, 15 thousand somonis (the US $1,323) or administrative arrest for 15 days with deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle for 5 years.
Liability for driving without a driver's license was also increased - from 150-250 somoni (13-22 USD) to 12,500 somonis (1105 USD). And for driving without a driver's license and while intoxicated, the amount of the fine was increased from 2,500 somonis (221 USD) to 20,000 somonis (1,767 USD). In this case, a person can be arraigned on a criminal charge for a repeated offense within a year after the imposition of an administrative penalty.
More than a year ago, the relevant authorities and civil society in Dushanbe began persecuting drivers who violate traffic rules. When someone witnesses a crime or an accident, photos or videos are posted on social media, especially Facebook, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Dushanbe mobilizes to rectify the situation. A few days later, photos with comments from the authorities about the investigation or resolution of the incident are published in the media, and most drivers are subject to administrative arrest for up to 5 days. Such an initiative exists only in Dushanbe, but the leadership of other regions can apply this experience in their own cities.
Civil society activists, becoming witnesses of accidents or seeing drivers or car owners park their cars in inappropriate places, take photos or videos and post them on social networks under the slogan “Stopkham”.
Lawyer Navruz Odinaev says that punishments are harsh on drivers in Tajikistan, but they should be even more sound.
“I suggested that speeding up to two times in cities be recognized as a crime committed intentionally, and not through negligence. That is, when the driver exceeds the speed limit twice, he already admits that he can knock down and kill a person, but this does not bother him. Therefore, drivers who run over pedestrians at high speed should be jailed for a longer period,” the lawyer said.
Navruz Odinaev believes that one of the main reasons for the high level of fatal accidents is the lack of knowledge of the traffic rules by pedestrians.
Now the fine against a pedestrian for violating traffic rules, including crossing the road in the wrong place, is only 7.5 somoni (about 0.66 USD).
Islam Malikov says that fines alone will not solve the problem. Because most of the violators are children of high-ranking officials and businessmen, and it is not a problem for them to pay a fine. And "ordinary" drivers know that if something happens they can solve the problem with the traffic police through a bribe, he says.
According to Abdulloev, in order to prevent road accidents, traffic police officers must work in places where there are traffic jams or dangerous roads. But in reality, they operate where they like.
This material was prepared within the framework of the IWPR project "Amplify, Verify, Engage: Information for Democratisation and Good Governance in Eurasia", funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and the mentoring program of the "Development of New Media and Digital Journalism in Central Asia" project, implemented by the Institute for War Reporting and Peace (IWPR) with the support of the UK Government. The content of this publication does not reflect the official views of IWPR, the Norwegian Foreign Office, or the UK Government.