Opinions
- Natalia Agre
- President of the NGO “Road Safety Russia”
Circumventing the law could cost a child's life
24 September 2013
It has been just over two weeks since changes to the law introduced a higher fine for failing to use a child restraint when transporting a child in a vehicle. While it is of course too early to draw conclusions, there are clearly some grounds for alarm.
The fine has been increased substantially, and many parents have finally started to think seriously about buying a child restraint. However, good quality, certified and fully tested car seats are expensive. Incomparable...
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- Road Safety Russia
Penalties for traffic offences in Russia – high or low?
09 September 2013
The amendments relating to traffic offences which have been introduced to the Russian Code of Administrative Offences and came into force on1 September 2013 are currently being hotly debated in the media and the public at large. Opinions on the matter are divided. Some people see it as a way to compel drivers to comply with traffic regulations, while others say that it will serve to exacerbate the corruption which already exists on the roads. Then there are those who say it is the only...
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- The Washington Post
A map of the countries with the most dangerous roads (by Max Fisher)
11 June 2013
Click to enlarge. Data source: World Health Organization
Lots of people think that their home town has the worst traffic, the most aggressive drivers, the craziest cabbies. Sometimes they have strong anecdotal evidence. Russian drivers often employ dashboard cameras to record seemingly inevitable collisions with reckless motorists. In the United Arab Emirates city of Abu Dhabi, a three-day Blackberry phone outage coincided with a 40 percent drop in traffic...
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News
- 22/11 The headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva hosted international consultations on global voluntary targets in the field of road traffic injury prevention. Participants of the consultative meeting were representatives of the World Health Organization, the United Nations European Economic Commission, the United Nations Children's Fund, as well as more than one hundred experts in the field of road safety from 30 countries. The Delegation of the Russian Federation, which included Nataliya Agre, the President of the “Driving Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, and representatives of the Russian Ministry of Health, was headed by Major-General of Police Mikhail Chernikov, Head of the Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During the meeting, the participants discussed the draft targets in the field of road traffic injury prevention, that have been developed by the World Health Organization. The document is intended to solve the task of monitoring the progress in achieving the targets in the field of road safety, included in the goal of sustainable development – a UN program document for the period up to 2030 adopted by the UN General Assembly. The targets and the related progress indicators cover the organization of road traffic safety management issues in conditions of increasing population mobility, improving the safety of vehicle design, protection of various categories of road users, as well as measures to respond to road traffic accidents. The Russian delegation made several comments and constructive proposals, in particular, the assessment of the condition of road infrastructure in terms of road traffic safety. They also suggested to adjust targets and indicators characterizing the exposure level to major risk factors: driving in the state of intoxication, overspeeding, the non-use of seat belts and motorcycle helmets by vehicle drivers and passengers, as well as transportation of children without child restraints. It is assumed that, after the approval of the draft document by all parties concerned, it will be submitted for approval to the World Health Assembly in Spring 2018.
- 17/11 On November 17, Belgorod welcomed a solemn event dedicated to the start of the second wave of the “Safety Laboratory” federal project, which is implemented in line with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation. The project is organized by the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Association of Motor Insurers and supported by the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. At the event, the Innovation Center was presented for the prevention of children road traffic injuries. Presentation of the mobile part of the project – the “Safety Laboratory” vehicle – and the opening press conference started in the territory of secondary school No. 50, which hospitably opened its doors to the event participants. The ceremony was attended by Nataliya Poluyanova, the Deputy Governor of Belgorod Region and the Head of the Department of Education; Colonel of Police Nikolay Smolyakov, the Head of the Department of State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Department of Internal Affairs for Belgorod Region; Aleksandr Yakimov, an Advisor to the President of the Russian Association of Motor Insurers; and Vadim Melnikov, the General Director of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center. Other participants of the solemn event were representatives of the regional authorities, heads of educational institutions, and regional representative offices of insurance companies. The Belgorod branch of the AlfaStrakhovanie company was presented at this event by its director – Tamara Leontieva, and the branch of the SOGAZ company by Nadezhda Tagisaraeva. Let us remind you that Belgorod Region became the first region involved in the project second wave. The Belgorod Center for the Prevention of Children Road Traffic Injuries will operate within the walls of the Novy Oskol Center of Patriotic Education. The school’s territory hosted an exhibition of retro cars, mobile training areas for children, and, surely, the Safety Laboratory vehicle. In honor of the opening the Center honorary guests of the event and the project organizers together with little road users solemnly cut the red ribbon. The event was continued by Dmitry Stebakov, a coach of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, who gave a tour for all comers, presenting the mobile center for children, and talked about the elements of the program. In the spacious hall of the educational institution he demonstrated an equipped ground with cones, stands, a mock-up table, bicycles, and elements of the road transport network, where children learnt difficult aspects of the safe traffic rules. After the end of the open lesson the coach of the Expert Center answered the questions of representatives of the education community, who were keenly interested in teaching methods and the elements of the ground. The central part of the event was a press conference which, on the eve of the International Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, opened with a minute of silence. The introductory speech was given by Nataliya Poluyanova, the Deputy Governor of Belgorod Region and the Head of the Department of Education, who said: “Safety of children on the road is one of the priorities of our region. Such projects as the “Safety Laboratory”, a unique workshop that is necessary for every school, every region, is an important element in the system of education. Now it is available in Belgorod Region”. Nikolay Smolyakov, the Chief State Motor Vehicle Inspector of Belgorod Region, stressed: “We can see some successes achieved by the Region in the field of prevention of children road traffic injuries. However, with the help of the mobile playground “Safety Laboratory” roads and streets on Belgorod land will become even safer for our children.” The Russian Association of Motor Insurers was presented at the event by Aleksandr Yakimov, an Advisor to the Association’s President, who stated: “The “Safety Laboratory” is a unique project which involved the best experts and specialists of the highest level, who directly participated in the development and adaptation of methods for the widest audience.” At the press conference Vadim Melnikov, the General Director of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, stressed: “We are happy that the first region, as part of the second wave, is namely Belgorod Region. Previously, together with the Region’s leaders, we already carried out social campaign for road safety in your region: “Keep Distance” in 2016; and in the early 2017, Belgorod land joined the “Crosswalk Concerns”. And today, in the continuation of the already ongoing, large-scale work, we are opening the “Safety Laboratory”. Words of support and gratitude to the organizers of the project also came from the parents, whose children live and study in Belgorod Region. At the end of the press conference representatives of the media could ask questions to the speakers and take photos. For two years of the program implementation, it is planned to involve thirty regions in total. To date 10 centers for road traffic safety operate in the territory of the Russian Federation. Before the end of the year it is planned to open new centers in the Republic of Komi, North Ossetia – Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria, Udmurtia, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk Territories, Ulyanovsk and Ryazan Regions.
- 11/10 Today, on October 11, the press center of the TASS Information Agency hosted a press conference dedicate to launching the all-Russian social campaign to promote road traffic safety: “Reason for Overtaking”. The press-conference was attended by representatives of the Russian Association of Motor Insurers (RUIA), the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center. The press conference participants stated that road traffic safety is one of the social and economic tasks given priority and has increased attention of the Government. Opening the press conference, Igor Yurgens, the RAMI’s President, told about the results of the first stage of the Russian President’s instructions implementation, and noted that since introducing the compulsory civil liability motor-vehicle insurance system (OSAGO) in our country, the Russian Association of Motor Insurers, together with experts in road traffic safety, have already organized tens of social campaigns. “This issue brings together the public and private interests, – the RAMI’s President said, – The insurer’s “self-interest” is to minimize the overall accident rate. But, surely, we consider campaigns for children as the most important ones. For us, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, it means establishing full-fledged Centers to prepare children for adult life on the road in 30 regions”, Yurgens concluded, meaning the vehicle playgrounds, i.e. “Safety Laboratory,” created in line with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation issued during a meeting of the State Council for road traffic safety in March 2016. These Laboratories are already available in 10 of 30 planned regions. Larisa Falkovskaya, the Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Children’s Right Protection of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, also stated the importance of vehicle playgrounds for working with children in regions and reminded that mobile road traffic safety Centers ensure both the technical part and the methodological basis. “As part of this project, our colleagues have developed a large set of methodical documents, which includes even a script for conducting classes by ages to cover absolutely all categories. In the Department we are studying the possibility to publish all these documents upon the project completion, so that every educational institution could use them in their activity.” The conference participants could also study the recent statistics of road accidents which occurred due to overtaking. This data was presented by Major-General of Police Vladimir Kuzin, the Deputy Head of the Main Regional Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs: “For 9 months of the current year, we have registered over 1,500 RTAs related to violation of overtaking rules. As a result of these maneuvers, 2,598 people were injured. These are very big numbers. At the same time, it should be noted that, unfortunately, more than 2/3 of this number of RTAs occurred due to driving on the oncoming lane in places where it is totally forbidden. And in such a situation, unfortunately, the consequences are extremely severe.” Vladimir Kuzin also stated that in the above period the number of road accidents involving passenger vehicles (buses) has increased. “As a rule, such accidents, – Kuzin reminded, – have grave consequences for a large number of people.” According to a sociological survey, conducted by the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, many road users not only do not know the rules of overtaking, but also confuse the definitions of “overtaking” and “outdistancing”. Nataliya Agre, the President of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, told about this at the conference, presenting the results of the survey conducted by the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center in cooperation with the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center at the RAMI’s request, emphasizing that respondents consider overtaking as the most difficult and dangerous maneuver: 48% of them are sure that they are able to make a safe overtaking, and 53% of Russians believe that overtaking provides them a significant gain in time. Noting the importance and relevance of the project, Vladimir Lugovenko, the Deputy Director of the Department for State Policy in the Field of Motor and Urban Public Transport of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, noted the uniqueness of the new campaign’s line aimed at working with professional drivers: “This is correct. Moreover, the Russian Ministry of Transport is now working under instructions of Igor Shuvalov on increasing the skills of professional drivers specifically. It is also important to constantly convey new information to this category of individuals, not when issuing them their driver’s licenses, that have been obtained by them 30 years ago.” Before giving the floor to Dmitry Guberniev, the key figure of the “Reason for Overtaking” campaign, the guests and participants of the press conference could see the social video entitled “Commentator” with the Dmitry’s participation. The central Russian TV channels will air this video from October 13 to November 12. “I am grateful to those people who are engaged in road traffic safety, not only for the opportunity to participate in this event, but also for the opportunity to look at our life in a different way, – Dmitry Guberniev said. – I realize that I now have a high level of social responsibility, and I will try come up to it.” Concluding the press conference, its participants noted that the social campaign “Reason for Overtaking” is an important element in the development of not only driving skills, but also the culture of behavior on the motor roads. For reference: The all-Russian social project “Reason for Overtaking” is implemented by the Russian Association of Motor Insurers in line with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation following the meeting of the State Council for road traffic safety. As part of the “Reason for Overtaking” campaign, there have been developed a set of promotional and educational activities, covering almost all population groups: kindergarten children, schoolchildren, students, driving school pupils, novice and experienced drivers, elderly people, and people with disabilities. In each of the 10 regions of the Russian Federation where the “Reason for Overtaking” social campaign will be carried out, the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center will involve schools, kindergartens, higher and secondary vocational educational institutions, driving schools, transport companies, railway and bus stations, registration departments of the State Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate, gas stations, pension funds, outpatient hospitals, shopping and entertainment centers. The social campaign is implemented in 10 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in 6 federal districts. Central Federal District Moscow Belgorod Region Bryansk Region Northwestern Federal District Republic of Komi Volga Federal District Ulyanovsk Region Republic of Udmurtia Urals Federal District Tyumen Region Siberian Federal District Krasnoyarsk Territory Irkutsk Region Far-East Federal Region Primorye Territory
- 28/09 On September 28, the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation held the round table discussion “Safety as a New Trend in Clothing. Relevance of Integrating Reflective Elements in Designing and Production of Children’s Clothing”. The round table was organized as part of the 23rd International Exhibition “The World of Childhood 2017”. Before the start of expert discussion, manufacturers of children's clothing demonstrated children's clothing with reflective elements to the discussion participants. The models were presented by the SweetBerry and Mamasvet companies. Reflective elements on the presented specimens were integrated both in children’s clothing and in accessories (covers for backpacks). Opening the expert discussion, Olesya Kuthurova, the Project Head of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, noted that in the beginning of autumn and winter period the issue of using reflective elements is especially pressing. According to statistics, a significant number of road accidents involving pedestrian children occur from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The data of the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the first six months of 2017 shows an increasing number of RTAs involving children: 10,038 RTAs involving children under 16 years old, including 3,763 RTAs involving kids on pedestrian crossings. According to Olesya Kuthurova, “The number of road accidents could be reduced, if children had reflective elements in their clothes. They make clothes both attractive and fashionable for young people, but most important, they make their owners visible on the road.” The use of reflective elements in children’s clothing is supported not only by manufacturers and experts, but also by executive bodies. Continuing the discussion, Olga Pozdynakova, the Senior Inspector of the Department of Public Awareness in the Field of Road Safety and Children’s Road Accident Injuries of the Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, told about the measures taken by her agency to reduce the number of RTAs involving children. In particular, she stated that 6 constituent entities of the Russian Federation held in 2017 a social campaign “Light Up!” to promote the use of retro-reflective elements in clothing. According to Olga Pozdynakova, the main question for today is the control over the use of reflective elements by children. Continuing the discussion, Larisa Sanatovskaya, the Executive Director of the National Parents’ Association for Social Support and Protection of Family Values, noted that reflective elements must be not only integrated in clothes, but also it is necessary to use accessories, such as wristbands and covers for backpacks, stickers, etc. “Today in many regions kids often use reflective elements as an element of culture: they conduct master classes for their manufacture and create a theater of shadows and light. This is an additional promotion factor for such important and simple road safety elements as reflectors”, Larisa Sanatovskaya said. Concluding her speech, she expressed a fairly simple and clear idea, or appeal: “without refractors, you have neither chance to realize yourself, nor evolve a personality.”
- 05/09 On August 31, the Governmental Commission for Road Safety held a meeting chaired by Igor Shuvalov, the First Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. The event was attended by Mikhail Chernikov, the Head of the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as representatives of ministries, agencies, and non-governmental organizations – members of the Commission. Before the official part of the event, the members of the Commission were invited to visit an exhibition of significant projects in the field of road traffic safety, that is currently implemented in Russia. In his speech, Mikhail Chernikov, the Head of the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate, noted that the current situation around the road traffic safety reflects in many respects the work that has been done over the past five years. This activity is based on decisions taken at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council, the government plans to reduce mortality rate, the decisions of the Commission for Road Traffic Safety, as well as the Federal Target Program. The executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have also changed their attitude to the problem of road traffic injuries. Thus, today all regions are implementing programs to improve road safety and, in fact, they have formed unified approaches to reducing damage to the State and society as a result of road traffic accidents. For example, currently, pursuant to the President’s instructions, the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Association of Motor Insurers and the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center have developed a large-scale program on the establishment of centers for the prevention of children road traffic injuries – “Safety Laboratory”. It provides for the full involvement of children in the process of understanding the risks on the road and education of responsible citizens who comply with traffic laws, having a culture of behavior in the transport environment. The training program includes several stages: for children accompanied by adults, for unaccompanied minors, and for future drivers. There are separately provided modules in which teachers and parents are trained. The uniqueness of the methodology lies in the affordable way of presenting information, a wide audience coverage, and the program’s mobility using the mobile “Safety Laboratory”. This is a vehicle that allows for the full staff of teachers to travel to remote areas of the Region and to bring with them all the necessary equipment for conducting classes based on the developed methods. Inside the vehicle, there are bicycles, push stand-up scooters, cones, demonstration stands, mock-up tables, elements of the road network, as well as a model of a bus stop and a bus model, allowing to simulate traffic situations in the learning process. And the “Safety Laboratory” vehicle itself is also an element of training, allowing to practice various exercises. The mobile part of the project – the “Safety Laboratory” vehicle – was presented at the exhibition before the meeting to Igor Shuvalov, the First Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and members of the Governmental Commission for Road Safety, who have appreciated its functionality and prospects for using it in the most remote areas of the country. Commenting on the campaign for opening centers, Igor Yurgens, the President of the Russian Association of Motor Insurers, noted that the world insurance community pays a special attention to the road traffic injury prevention. “The Russian Association of Motor Insurers is a traditional partner of this project, and we are delighted to see the positive results achieved in this field. I really hope that kids who will be trained will grow active and competent road users and, surely, it will be useful if they share their knowledge with adults”, I. Yurgens said. The RAMI’s President emphasized that the project will pay a special attention to the work with children with disabilities. According to Nataliya Agre, the President of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, to date the “Safety Laboratories” have opened their doors and are successfully operating in ten regions: Tula, Tambov, Kostroma, Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Leningrad, Vladimir, Kaluga Regions, and the Republic of Khakassia. During the two years of the project implementation it is planned to involve 30 regions of the country in total, where over 120 thousand people will be trained.
- 09/08 The Kabardino-Balkar Republic launched the comprehensive social program “Towards Safety”. The project is implemented as part of the Federal Target Program “Increasing Road Traffic Safety in 2013–2020” with the support of the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center. It is aimed at working with various groups of population to reduce the number of road traffic accidents (RTA), injuries, and deaths on motor roads. On August 8, Nalchik hosted the announcing press conference attended by Major-General of Police Sergey Dobryakov, the Deputy Head of the Main Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation; Aliy Musukov, the President of the Government of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic – the Chairman of the Governmental Commission of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic for Road Traffic Safety; Andrey Shemelin, the Deputy General Director of the Federal Governmental Institution “Directorate for Management of the Federal Target Program “Increasing Road Traffic Safety in 2013–2020”; Vadim Melnikov, the Director of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center; Vladimir Bolotkov, the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic; Arsen Kudaev, the Chairman of the State Committee of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic for Transport and Communication – the Deputy Chairman of the Governmental Commission of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic for Road Traffic Safety, as well as representatives of the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the regional subdivision of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, transport, education, health care departments, directors of driving schools, educational institutions and camps, social protection bodies, non-governmental organizations, and media. Aliy Musukov was the first to address his words of thanks to the campaign organizers. He stated that the Kabardino-Balkar Republic pays great importance to road traffic safety. The main areas of their activity were reducing the number of death on the roads, development of safe behavior skills of children on the roads, enhancing driving culture, development of assistance systems for road accident victims. The Governmental Commission of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic for Road Traffic Safety actively works in this area. The work carried out in recent years allowed them to decrease the number of death on transport by 35% in the period from 2012 to 2016, including that of children, by 78%. For six months of the current year, the mortality rate on the Republic’s road has decreased by another third against the same period of the previous year. The Republic attaches an increased attention to the organized transportation of children by buses. It is carried out in compliance with the current regulatory legal acts. Drivers’ training is also important, because one of the reasons for a high accident rate is the lack of their proper training. The Republic conducts the construction of a multipurpose sports center of the Higher Driving Skills: “Caucasus-Autocity”; completed the renovation of the children's and youth motor school designed for simultaneous training of 200 people. An important factor in ensuring road traffic safety is the development of the general behavior culture of road users via media. Since the beginning of 2017, the media of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic have published and aired 2’906 materials on the topic of road traffic injuries, including the children’s ones. Sergey Dobryakov also supported the words of gratitude addressed to all the organizers of the “Towards Safety” social program and noted the active support of the project by the authorities of the Republic. He reminded that the country’s leaders set an ambitious task: reducing the death rate by more than 30% before 2020. Its effective solution needs joining efforts and involving public authorities at all levels, the expert community, the media, representatives of the blogosphere, public organizations, as well as socially active citizens. He noted that in the first seven months of 2017 a decrease in the accident main indices has been recorded in the territory of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. At the same time, the situation around the safety of the most vulnerable group of road users – children and pedestrians – is still problematic. Thus, the number of accidents involving minors has increased by almost 9%, and one of four RTAs in the Republic is a pedestrian collision, the number of which has increased by 13%. Most collisions – eight of ten accidents – occur through the fault of pedestrians. Analytical data show that three of four pedestrian collisions were due to their own carelessness. The main reasons are crossing the street outside a pedestrian crossing, even if it is located nearby, suddenly getting out to the road from behind parked cars. The “Towards Safety” campaign will help pedestrians and drivers, including bicyclists, to better know the traffic rules. The project is addressed to all groups of road users. Drivers will learn how to choose the right speed based on weather and traffic conditions, to always fasten their seat belt and to monitor the use of passenger seat belts, as well as transport children only using children’s restraints. Pedestrians will know the reasons for using reflectors and why is it so important to always comply with the traffic rules, when crossing a road, even if it seems sometimes that there is no danger. Bicyclists will learn about the purpose of the helmet and be taught the Road Traffic Rules. The key element of the campaign is a safety vehicle complete with modern equipment and a set of useful devices, which will allow for the experts to explain the Road Traffic Rules in an accessible and clear way. Its mobility makes it possible to travel exactly where the target audience spends their time: kindergartens, social institutions, maternity hospitals, city parks. This is a unique approach to the prevention of road injuries, which has no analogues due to its mobility, innovativeness, and orientation to all population groups. “One of the main objectives of the project is giving an impulse for further public awareness work in the Republic,” Vadim Melnikov stressed. “We want the developments that were made during the campaign to be actively used when working with the population after the end of the main events. These are materials that can be used by media, and methodical manuals for social workers, and much more.” He stated that all the events are constantly analyzed to assess their efficiency. Before the campaign start and after its end, sociological survey is carried out. Thus, before launching the campaign, a survey showed that during the last month more than half of the Republic’s residents had seen a child crossing the street outside a pedestrian crossing or a child crossing the street in a hood or headphones. 69% of respondents said that they did not use reflectors to make them visible on the road at night or under poor visibility conditions, and every tenth heard for the first time about reflective elements during the survey. There is also an ambiguous situation around the transportation of children. In the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, 77% of parents with children under 12 years old have a child seat of another child restraint, but, contrary to the road traffic rules, almost every second interviewed parent does not use any of these devices when transporting children in a taxi, in the cars of friends and relatives. Andrey Shemelin told that for over 10 years the Russian Federation has successfully implemented a program to increase road traffic safety: the Federal Target Program “Increasing Road Traffic Safety in 2013–2020” is a continuation of the Federal Target Program “Increasing Road Traffic Safety in 2006–2012”. Over these years, despite the growth of the national motor vehicle fleet, the number of motor vehicle accidents and the number of death in RTAs have significantly decreased. The Federal Target Program provides not only information and advocacy work, but also infrastructure changes. During the program implementation since 2014, the Russian Federation has purchased and installed over 2.5 thousands sets of automatic video recording of the Road Traffic Rules violations; kindergartens have received 3.4 thousand sets of equipment for training younger children in the basics of safe behavior on the roads; over 3 million reflective elements have been distributed among schoolchildren, 307 kilometers of pedestrian fences have been installed in places of road accident concentration, 2 thousand pedestrian crossings and 2 thousand traffic lights facilities have been modernized, and a specialized website has been launched to publish games, tests, exercises to train children and adults in safe use of motor roads. Summing up the press conference, Arsen Kudaev added that an important element in the RTA prevention, in addition to advocacy and public awareness work, is documented recording of road traffic rules violations. The Republic has established the State Budgetary Institution “The Safe Republic”. With the help of technical infrastructure its employees record thousands of road traffic violations every day. Since 2015 they have identified 2 million 373 thousand violations. The use of technical means to record road traffic rules violations has allowed to reduce RTAs number, as the awareness of imminent punishment for the violations committed is a very efficient preventive measure. At the end of the press conference all its participants could get acquainted with the safety vehicle by visiting one of the event in the children's health camp “Raduga” (“Rainbow”). Children also had an opportunity to ask questions to the organizers of the “Towards Safety” social campaign. The social campaign in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic will last until the end of the week. After that, it will be welcomed in the Republic of North North Ossetia – Alania.
- 04/07 The main goal of the special course by the Ford Safe Driving Academy is training drivers, who are engaged in the transportation of children, in defensive driving skills and techniques to prevent road accidents when driving a vehicle, including maneuvering in difficult traffic conditions. In order to achieve high results the Academy invited coaches having different titles in motorsports and awards of international competitions. The coaches were trained in the special training center of “Risk-Free Road Traffic” under the training program for drivers of this category. Many coaches are certified under RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) standards. The importance of the program has been determined by statistics provided by the State Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation: only in the period from January to May of 2017 they registered 2,782 road traffic accidents (RTA) involving children as passengers, in which 134 children were killed and 3,199 children were injured. 2,081 cases were accidents involving buses. Separately in the Republic of Tatarstan, there were 79 RTAs involving children, in which 4 children died, whereas 64 RTAs occurred through the fault of bus drivers*. The main reasons for road accident are still the same: violation of the traffic rules by drivers, as well as discrepancy of the actual speed with traffic conditions. The condition of roads and weather conditions aggravate the problem, which requires special attention and sufficient experience from school bus drivers in the regions. The trainings were held on June 27 to 30 at the Kazan Autodrome “Vysokaya Gora”. In honor of the opening of the new school a press conference was held, which was attended by the heads of the region, representatives of public services and agencies, and media. The presidium included Aydar Kayumov, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan; Liliya Obolonskaya, the Head of the Department for Relations with State Agencies of Ford Sollers Holding, LLC; and Aleksandr Revsky, the Director of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center. “Currently, our Republic uses over 190 Ford school buses, – Aydar Kayumov explained to the audience. – I would like to express my great gratitude to this project and all the team engaged in its organization. I wish each student to gain more knowledge and skills to successfully use them in their future work”. A. Kayumov also noted the relevance of the chosen direction of the new course and its uniqueness for vocational training in the field of “Social Transport”. The driving lessons scheme was revolving: participants were divided into groups and passed locations one after another. This allowed, with a minimum of time, to make the most of the five locations provided by the program. The first module of the program was devoted to the means of passive protection when transporting children and the driver’s health, in particular, the fatigue factor: the participants undergoing training were convinced that a necessary condition for safe transport was following the indications of the tachograph, which should be installed in all school buses after 2014. Each participant was also able to check the efficiency of the seat belts, which save children’s life in 90% of cases. The purpose of this part of the “Academy” was the demonstration of the fact that, if the driver himself uses the passive protection means, the life and health of his little passengers are still at a great risk. Children who get into a vehicle trust the driver. That is why, in addition to the explanations of how to avoid errors on the road, the “Academy” coaches demonstrated how to act if a critical situation has already occurred. In particular, this was explained in the modules devoted to the “Emergency Braking” and “First Aid”. Separately, urgent questions were raised related to “blind areas” and distraction, which has recently been exacerbated by the spread of a variety of gadgets and, especially, smartphones. Participants were invited to pass a quest with a mobile device in their hands. Only 10% of drivers could successfully complete it. Marat Takhautdinov, a driver of Bugulma Motor Transport Company, who participated in the training, shared his experience: “I did not expect the braking to be so difficult. You must foresee everything, and know how to act. I've been driving for 28 years now, but I never thought that, for example, using a reserve of 20 kilometers, when the permitted speed is 40 km, I not only violate the traffic rules, but also increase my braking distance at many times, which one day can create a very difficult situation, if you have to brake urgently. I will definitely tell my colleagues about this, when I go to my work.” The analysis of the reasons for RTA involving children as passengers (especially related to organized transportation of children) shows that any road accident is an emergency situation due to the lack of psychological and practical training of drivers. As part of this new direction – training of school bus drivers – the Ford Safe Driving Academy seeks to teach drivers to respond quickly to unexpected traffic situations and to minimize collision risk using new methods, techniques and driving skills, which is doubly important when children are behind your back. The next cities where the Ford Safe Driving Academy will open its doors will be Volgograd and Saratov. There, trainings for school bus drivers will be held on July 5 and on July 11 to 14, respectively. See you on the grounds! * According to the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs About the Ford Driving Skills for Life Global Project The global social program entitled Ford Driving Skills for Life has been held in the US since 2003; since 2013, it has been implemented in Europe, and since 2014, also in Russia. Ford Driving Skills for Life is the first project in the history of the automobile industry aimed at conducting free practical integrated trainings of drivers who recently received their driver's license. For 13 years of the program about 1,000,000 drivers around the world attended the training, including 6,600 novice drivers from 16 Russian regions. ### For the avoidance of doubt, under the above project its participants are provided with only consulting services of the theory and practice of safe driving, that is not an educational activity in line with the current laws of the Russian Federation.
- 30/06 On June 27, the Kazan Autodrome “Vysokaya Gora” gathered over one hundred school bus drivers to pass an intensive training program developed by the “Academy for Training School Bus Drivers” taking into account all the features of transportation of minor passengers. In honor of launching the new program block, a press conference was held which was attended by the heads of the region, representatives of public services and agencies, and media. In Russia, this project is implemented by Ford Sollers in partnership with the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center and with the support of the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The presidium included Aydar Kayumov, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan; Liliya Obolonskaya, the Head of the Department for Relations with State Agencies of Ford Sollers Holding, LLC; and Aleksandr Revsky, the Deputy Director of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center. “Currently, our Republic uses over 190 Ford school buses, – Aydar Kayumov explained to the audience. – I would like to express my great gratitude to this project and everyone in the team engaged in its organization. I wish each student to gain more knowledge and skills to successfully use them in their future work.” A. Kayumov also noted the relevance of the chosen direction of the new training program and its uniqueness for vocational training in the field of “Social Transport”. Liliya Obolonskaya supported the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan noting the significant contribution to the project implementation made by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan, the State Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate for the Republic of Tatarstan. “Surely, as an automaker region, – L. Obolonskaya said, – we understand the burden of responsibility that falls on a person who is at the wheel, especially if he or she is engaged in transportation of children. Therefore, when the idea was born to extend this project to social transport drivers, we supported it across our company, and the Republic of Tatarstan has traditionally become our partner in this endeavor.” She reminded the guests that trainings for novice drivers, which had ended a month earlier, had also started in the Republic of Tatarstan and wished success and responsible attitude to each trip for all drivers participating in the project. Aleksandr Revsky, the Deputy Director of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, telling about statistics in the segment of children’s transportation, focused on the unique training sessions devoted to the observance of the regimes of work and rest by drivers: “Before developing this program, together with the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, we had a very long study of the causes of road accidents involving social transport. We learnt that the main cause was, surely, driver's violation of traffic rules, but the most frequent reason for these violations was the situation where drivers approached in bad faith the observance of their work and rest regimes. Therefore, within the framework of our program, we focused not only on preventing dangerous situations on the road, but also left several locations for coverage of the tachography topic – its importance for traffic safety.” In response to journalists’ questions about why drivers of “children's buses”, who, as a rule, have a huge driving experience, do not cope most often with the tasks of the Academy on the first try, Vladimir Bakharev, a chief coach of the Ford Safe Driving Academy, a world-class coach, explained: “Very many things in our locations are surprising even for the most experienced drivers. For example, at our first location for “Emergency Braking”, we often hear that drivers never had to use it. They have a knowledge about it, but only in theory. We begin to check it – but in fact, there is no knowledge at all. Almost all of them knock down the doll imitating a pedestrian. Why? That is, they are used to press the brake smoothly. We teach drivers to develop their skills and we say that they need to do this constantly, not only during the Academy’s training sessions.” The organizers devoted the first module to the means of passive safety and rules for the provision of first aids, which was conducted by Vitaly Kopin, a coach for defensive driving accredited by the British RoSPA, a first-class rescuer, and Dmitry Komarov, a coach for defensive driving, expert on road traffic accident investigation. The second module considered the emergency braking as a system of severity of consequences of mistakes made, as well as choosing and maintaining a safe distance. This location was vested in Oleg Shatov, an auto sportsman and auto journalists, and a RoSPA-accredited coach, the Head of the Kazan School of Higher Driving Skills. He was assisted by Timur Gilmiyarov and Taras Shatov, master coaches of the Kazan School of Higher Driving Skills, prizewinners of Russian and foreign competitions. The third, final module told about the dangers of distraction and the problem of “blind areas”. The key figures in this topic were the coaches of the Ford Safe Driving Academy: Delshat Khisamov, a member of a transport organization in the “Universiade” projects and drivers’ coach in the “Olympic Sochi” project; Marat Salakhutdinov, an auto sportsman, a teacher of extreme and protective driving; and Konstantin Ptitsyn, an auto sportsman and auto tourist, a RoSPA-accredited coach. Dmitry Turpekin, a Master in motorsports, a coach of auto sportsmen and car and truck drivers, spoke about the features of traffic and distribution of attention while driving a vehicle. A special topic was devoted to observing the work and rest regimes. Despite the introduction of a more complex control system for bus drivers, there is an increase in injuries number. One of the reasons for this is the drivers’ inability to correctly use such an important safety element as tachograph. In addition to theoretical sessions, each part of the training includes sufficient time for practice and testing. Let us remind you that the Ford Safe Driving Academy started in 2014, and for three years it has covered 16 regions of the country, where over 6.3 thousand drivers received free training. In 2014–2017 such training sessions were carried out in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Voronezh, Krasnodar, Volgograd, Sochi, Astrakhan, and the Chechen Republic. This year the first part of the “Academy”, devoted to young drivers, has already ended. Its result was the training of more than 800 people from three Russian cities in 12 days.
- 19/06 On June 16, Kaluga hosted the presentation of the children’s innovative Center for Road Traffic Safety. The event was attended by Aleksandr Savin, the Chief Federal Inspector for Kaluga Region of the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District; Sergey Efremov, the Deputy Executive Director of the Russian Association of Motor Insurers; Nataliya Agre, the President of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center; Aleksey Kholopov, the Chief State Inspector for Road Traffic Safety in Kaluga Region; Aleksandr Anikeev, the Minister of Education and Science of Kaluga Region; Andrey Smolovik, the Director of the Kaluga Branch of Sogaz, JSC, as well as representatives of the regional executive authorities, heads of the regional branches of insurance companies, Kaluga teachers and students. Let us remind you that the “Safety Laboratory” project is implemented in line with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, issued following the meeting of the Presidium of the State Council in March 2016. The project is organized by the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Association of Motor Insurers with the information support of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center. Kaluga Region became the tenth anniversary region that participated in this large-scale and important project. The event was started on a sunny morning on the square before the Regional Center of Additional Education for Children, with a vivid performance of the children’s movement of Young Traffic Inspectors, in which over twenty inspectors welcomed the project with the words of the song “Road Traffic Rules”. Then, in honor of the Center’s opening, honorary guests of the event and the project organizers, together with little road users, solemnly cut the red ribbon. The event was continued by Dmitry Stebakov, a coach of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, who gave a tour for all comers, presenting the mobile center for children, and talked about the elements of the program. In the assembly hall of the educational institution he demonstrated an equipped ground with cones, stands, a mock-up table, bicycles, and elements of the road transport network, where children learnt difficult aspects of the safe traffic rules. The visit ended with a discussion of some project-related issues. The crucial point of the event was the press conference which was opened, on behalf of the regional government, by Aleksandr Anikeev, the Minister of Education and Science of Kaluga Region. He said that the children’s safety on the road was an important area of activity in the Region. Such projects as the “Safety Laboratory” improved the situation around the children’s injuries on the regional road and increased the level of culture of all road users without exception. Aleskey Kholopov, the Chief State Inspector for Road Traffic Safety in Kaluga Region, stressed that safety of children on the road is one of the region’s priorities. Unfortunately, for five months of the current year we have seen the 27% increase in the RTAs involving children, in which 4 children died. The number of injured has also increased. “Reducing the level of children’s injuries on roads can be achieved due to systematic preventive activities. I am sure that the today’s opening of the Center will allows us to stabilize the situation and to make our region a territory where children will live safely,” the Police Colonel said. Nataliya Agre, the President of the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, stressed that the Safety Laboratory project was not the first one to be implemented in Kaluga Region. Previously, the Center had held such campaigns as “Restraints for Children”, “Fasten the Belt!”, “Slow down!”, and “Observe the Rules!”. Therefore, establishing the Innovative Center for Road Traffic Safety that provides for comprehensive children training in the road safety was a logical continuation of the long-term cooperation and collaboration. She noted that the uniqueness of the new project lied in its mobility and the possible involvement of a large audience of children from 5 to 14 years. A modular program had been developed that provides training not only for children, but also for adults. In total, for two years it was planned to train over 4,000 children in the Region. Sergey Efremov, the Deputy Executive Director of the Russian Association of Motor Insurers, said in his speech that, over the past decade, the RAMI, in cooperation with the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the “Risk-Free Road Traffic” Expert Center, had carried out long-term work to improve road safety, implementing all-Russian social projects, this project being the largest of them. “Children's life is priceless! The “Safety Laboratory” is not a charitable project of insurers, but a reserve for the future, aimed at ensuring road safety in our country. The insurance community is interested in reducing the number of road accidents, that of injured and killed people on the roads, because this is an important social and economic task. Now it is important for the road traffic safety training to be effective in all regions and, without a doubt, the “Safety Laboratory” project will help us in achieving this goal”, the RAMI’s representative added. At the end of the press conference Andrey Smolovik, the Director of the Kaluga Branch of Sogaz, JSC, took the floor and stressed that it was no coincidence that Kaluga Region was the tenth anniversary region, because it always went calmly, systematically, and fell into the “Ten (Hit the mark)!” Words of support and gratitude to the project organizers came also from Igor Tsvetkov, the Director of the Kaluga Branch of the Ingossrakh Insurance Company, and Marina Sorokina, the Director of the Regional Center for Additional Education for Children named after Gagarin, on the basis of which the “Safety Laboratory” will work. After the speakers’ presentations the moderator gave the floor to the audience. They raised the question of training in traffic rules outside the project, improvement of road infrastructure, and other. During the two years of the project implementation it is planned to involve 30 regions of the country in total. To date the “Safety Laboratory” centers have already opened their doors in Tula, Tambov, Kostroma, Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Leningrad, Vladimir, Kaluga Regions, and the Republic of Khakassia.
