Rustem Garipov: ‘We see an increase in the number of accidents on municipal roads’

Safe driving on highways

Accidents on municipal roads are increasing in Tatarstan. The head of the Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, Police Colonel Rustem Garipov told about this on the air of the online conference of Realnoe Vremya:

“We see an increase in the number of accidents on municipal roads. The emphasis from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is on lighting and on those sections of roads where it is necessary to expand (Kazan-Ulyanovsk, for example, needs to be expanded) in order to make it more convenient and safer for the driver," the interlocutor of the publication noted.

The main “traffic policeman” of the republic answered questions from readers of our publication on the topic “Safety on the roads of Tatarstan” live. According to Rustem Garipov, a lot is being done in Tatarstan every year to make the roads comfortable: a dividing strip, fences, several lanes in each direction. For example, the Kazan-Orenburg road has been expanded.

When asked why there are practically no “pockets” on the highways of the republic, unlike other regions, into which a truck can enter so that a stream can overtake it, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan answered:

“As for the 'pockets' — it is necessary to study the issue and the experience of other regions. We will consider this problem and will jointly implement it in Tatarstan.”

“Both children and adults violate traffic rules on scooters”

They also discussed mass accidents involving electric scooters. According to Rustem Garipov, there is a problem, but the traffic police works with the organisers of this type of transport and they hear the traffic inspectors, fulfill the requirements:

“Both children and adults violate traffic rules on scooters. We are working on this, and not only with fines, but also with propaganda. People should understand that the consequences can be very tragic — recently a video of a scooter accident with a guy and a girl has spread in the social networks of the republic. The girl died on the spot, and the guy emotionally wanted to wake her up. We appeal to the children: if you got a bad mark at school, it can be corrected. But sometimes it is impossible to fix a mistake on the road.

The head of the department made this appeal to both children and adults who let the child out for a walk and ride bicycles. There are complaints about the owners of motor vehicles: “We appeal to adults so that they know where their children are, what they are doing and what kind of transport they are travelling on.”

“Even if you take away the ignition key from a drunk yourself, we will be grateful to you”

The Kazan Traffic Police Department told about cases of drunk driving detected by signals from the population. Rustem Garipov told how this work is structured and what one should do if you witness that the driver is drunk or violates the rules:

“There are Telegram channels where you can send this information. Traffic police cars have QR codes that you can use to access the channel and send information about a particular violator, depending on where you are. If there is no smartphone, you can call 02 or 112 and report an intruder who can bring trouble on the road if he is not stopped. Whatever this fact may be called (someone will say that this is snitching), but if we save our lives, isn't it worth it?"

The head of the Road Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan noted that he always gives an example of how two friends drank alcohol near a house, got into a car and overturned after 800 metres. The passenger died on the spot, and when the villagers gathered, they said: “Well, we all saw that they were drinking, drove to the store, took alcohol, returned and continued to drink. And none of us stopped them.”

“Therefore, I appeal to the residents of the republic: it does not matter in what format you stop such people. Even if you take away the ignition key from a drunk yourself, we will be grateful to you. We do not need protocols or official punishments: if you were able to prevent a disaster yourself, we will thank you. If you tell us, we will respond quickly, harshly and appropriately," Rustem Garipov promised.

In case of repeated hit for drunk driving, a person will already be brought to criminal responsibility, he added.