Natalia Agre: “The issue of road safety is inextricably linked to attitudes and behaviour”

03 July 2013

On 3 July President of the NGO Road Safety Russia, Natalia Agre, took part in a round table discussion on “The relationship between officers of the State Automobile Inspectorate and road users: a challenge for our times”. The round table was organised by the periodical, Parlamentskaya gazeta, on the occasion of the 77-th anniversary of the Russian State Automobile Inspectorate.

Natalia Agre presented the results of the large-scale “No Rush” project and also highlighted the fact that the key to road safety lies in the attitudes and behaviour of drivers, passengers and pedestrians. 

“Any day now we expect legislation to be passed on increased penalties for traffic offences”, Ms Agre said. “Almost all the points covered by this bill relate in one way or another to advocacy. Speed limits, seatbelts and child restraints – these are the issues we have been working on for several years now. However, the issue of road safety is inextricably linked to attitudes and behaviour. Two and a half years ago we raised concerns about the use of child restraints. We proposed an increase to the penalty for contravening the rules on children travelling by car – for the simple reason that the attitudes of future Russian citizens are being shaped from a child’s earliest years.

Vladimir Kuzin has just talked about the aggression which exists between road users and between road users and the State Automobile Inspectorate. If we bring up our children differently, this sort of situation shouldn’t arise. We also discussed this issue during a meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Medvedev. We need to change the education system in pre-school facilities and schools. We can’t expect good behaviour from adults if it is not instilled from childhood.”

The President of Road Safety Russia also brought up the important issue of training at driving schools: “Together with the State Automobile Inspectorate we provide large numbers of lessons for learner drivers. However, this shouldn’t be our job, it should be part of government strategy”.

Deputy Head of the Road Safety Department, Vladimir Kuzin, agreed with Natalia Agre and noted that, as a result of their joint public awareness campaigns, there have been marked improvements in behaviour relating to children travelling by car, with many more parents starting to use child seats.  

Vladimir Edalov, member of the Council of the Federation Committee on Constitutional Legislation, Legal and Judicial Affairs and Civil Society Development, noted that the quality of Russia’s roads, signage and traffic management had all improved significantly, but added that the most important thing was for people to abide by the law. “It is such a terrible thing when our children are killed”, he said. “We should never forget the simple truth that babies become road users as soon they leave the maternity unit in a swaddling blanket. That’s why road safety as a preventative measure is so important and it has to start in pre-school.”

Participants in the discussion also included the first Deputy Chair of the Council of the Federation Committee on Defence and Security, Alexander Chekalin, member of the State Duma Transport Committee, Oleg Nilov, and the first Deputy Chair of the State Duma Transport Committee, Mikhail Bryachak.

The main issues discussed were road user safety, road traffic accident prevention measures and legislative initiatives to enhance the experience of drivers on Russia’s roads. 

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