Author: Denis Tahiri
Laws are constantly changing, but drivers continue to be undisciplined and therefore the biggest source of accidents. Instat informs that, in 81.8% of cases, car accidents occur as a result of the behavior of drivers, where the 35-44 age group holds the largest share of accident victims only during the month of February. A negligible percentage of accidents are calculated to occur due to roads, weather conditions or road users.
The most recent change to the Road Code was marked on March 17, the day on which the Assembly of Albania approved new changes based on the proposals of the Road Police. While the discussions were taking place, in the span of three days from March 9 to 11, seven citizens were killed in car accidents
The most important change is that of limiting the engine power for young drivers, who can drive vehicles with an engine power greater than 2 horsepower only after completing 55 years of driving license. Meanwhile, for hybrid electric or plug-in cars, the specific power limit is 65 horsepower per ton, including the weight of the batteries.
In the face of changes on the one hand and unstoppable accidents on the other, experts appear contradictory. "For me, it is not half-hearted, but it has no value." says road safety expert Fatmir Hasho. Asked by SINJALIZO, the expert adds that he does not see it as a measure that can reduce the number of accidents. "Even a car with a small cube, if it is at high speed, kills and damages", he says.
Even Mamir Hodo, road safety expert, although he sees it as a measure that can have a positive effect on reducing the number of accidents, says that the State Police should monitor young drivers. As a proposal, it is suggested that after obtaining the driver's license, drivers pass additional tests such as in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. "Practically it is difficult for traffic police Services. This will be like network work that will stop these leaders, only with organized checkpoints or randomly", says expert Hodo.
Map of places where accidents happen
Road accidents during the past month have claimed the lives of several citizens. Two pedestrians lost their lives in two days (3.04.2023 and 04.04.2023). Often the blame is placed on the signage, other times on pedestrians, meanwhile, there are no shortage of continuous problems in the Albanian road network. What are considered as "black spots" are present everywhere, starting from the national road axes to inside the cities.
For the year 2018 to 2020 in our country, the institutions have identified 105 "black spots" in the road network. 18 of which are located in urban areas, while the other 87 are in the National Road Network, where the owner is ARRSH.
The next map of "black spots" is expected to be prepared in 2024 by the Transport Institute and will be based on accidents from 2021-2023.
Asked by SINJALIZO about the "black spots" on the National Road Network, the Albanian Road Authority states that:Every year, ARRSH plans a dedicated fund for the elimination of Black Spots, based on the anticipated fund, priorities for interventions are requested from the Traffic Police".
But experts point out that this problem will never find a solution. Fatmir Hasho adds that "Because if we close 5, 5 more will be opened. The problem lies in the education of drivers". Asked about the places where the most accidents occur within cities, Hasho considers every axis problematic. "Signage leaves much to be desired in all cities, except for Trana. All other cities have many, many problems with their internal signage".
For the road safety expert Hodo, 70% of accidents in Albania occur on 10% of the road axes and this 10% are considered the black spots of traffic. "It is the duty of the traffic police to communicate with the local government about the installation of road signs to make it clear that there is something wrong as accidents are happening". he says.
In the list of black spots, which the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism has in full, 67 points in Tirana region need intervention, in which the most frequent accidents have been identified. Meanwhile, there are 26 such in the city of Durres.
When do accidents happen?
According to the data that "Sinjalizo" managed to provide, the highest number of road accidents during February 2023 occur at the beginning of the week and in the middle of the week. Monday and Thursday are considered to be the most difficult days in traffic that have had consequences in human life. While the day with the least number of accidents is Wednesday. As for the time slot which is more problematic for accidents, it is between 19:00 and 24:00, where 29.5% of the total number of accidents during the month of February occurred in this time slot. Another interesting data is the fact that the time slot 08:00-12:00 takes the second place for the number of accidents in the country, holding 20,5% of the total number of accidents.
The group up to 6.3 years old involved in accidents also experienced an increase of 24%. In February of the last year, only 16 cases were registered, while in the same period of this year there were 17. All age groups have experienced an increase in involvement in accidents, where the 45-59 age group leads with 38,5%, followed by from 24-34 year olds and 60+, which have recorded an increase of 20%.
fines
5 In recent years, in our country, the number of road accidents has never fallen below 1 thousand per year. In 2018, 213 citizens lost their lives on road axes, and 2078 others were injured as a result of 1718 road accidents.
In 2019, the number of accidents decreased, recording 1498 such accidents. While the number of injured people on Albanian roads decreased, marking 1817 injured citizens and 227 loss of life, these numbers continued to decrease during 2020. During the following year, 1234 accidents were recorded with 1417 injured people and 181 citizens lost their lives.
Otherwise, the year 2021 would end, where they would lose their lives in 1376 road accidents, 197 EU citizens injured 1663 others. The following year, the Road Police would increase checks as a campaign to reduce the number of accidents, where 1165 such would be registered, with 1435 wounded and 164 victims.
"Sinjalizo" asked the media office in the General Directorate of the State Police for data regarding the number of fines in the national rank, but did not receive any response. On the other hand, through sources at the Tirana Police Directorate, it was possible to provide details about the administrative measures for the largest district in the country. The data of the capital's police show that last year 1531 citizens were arrested and prosecuted for serious violations of traffic rules, 330 more than in 2021. 594 ended up in handcuffs for driving while intoxicated, 534 for being in driving vehicles without a driving license and 68 others for using drugs. 203 drivers who tried to bribe police officers ended up in handcuffs, while 132 drivers were prosecuted for other crimes. During this time, traffic police Services imposed a total of 119,384 administrative measures.
What is understood is that most of the drivers who have been caught red-handed by the police have continued with the habit of talking on the phone while driving. The nature of the fines shows that the police issued 38200 fines for using a mobile phone while driving, while another 21 were issued for not wearing a seat belt. The rest of the fines were issued for wrong overtaking, high speed in residential areas, and failure to use protective helmets by motor vehicle drivers.
