In connection with the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer holidays, the traffic police will hold a special set of events “Attention - children!” from May 25 to June 5. The main goal is to prevent accidents involving minors.
On these days, drivers must travel with headlights or daytime running lights on at any time of the day (Section 166.9 of the Traffic Regulations). Abw.by was informed about this by the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Failure to comply with the requirement will result in a fine of up to two basic amounts (up to 49 rubles, part 3 of article 18.14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Belarus).
This year, professional events will begin with the United Road Safety Day, which will be held on May 25 under the motto “Let's make summer safe together!”
The State Traffic Inspectorate urges drivers to be extremely careful when driving near child care facilities, passing unregulated pedestrian crossings, public transport stops, and especially in courtyards.
Particular attention will be focused on carrying out preventive work with parents. Police officers will visit work collectives and parent meetings, explain to adults the causes and consequences of accidents involving children, remind them of the rules for the safe transportation of minors, responsibility for traffic violations, as well as the need for a personal example of correct and safe behavior on the road.
Since the beginning of this year, 6 children have died on the country’s roads, and 125 minors have been injured.
An analysis of accident rates in past years shows that the distribution of the number of children injured in road accidents by time of year has a pronounced seasonal character. On average, 70% are injured on the roads in the six warm months of the year, from May to October, most in the summer, when children are left unattended by teachers and parents. In June - August 2017, 7 children died in road accidents (in 2016 - 7, in 2014 - 11).
The largest number of incidents involving children in the summer occurs from Friday to Sunday. It is these days that it is necessary to closely monitor the leisure time of children and adolescents, to exclude the possibility of access to keys to cars and motorcycles.
Meanwhile, in Minsk the day before yesterday there was a hit-and-run on a child. As reported to the editorial Viber 8 029 689 88 93 reader, “a child was hit in front of school No. 51 on Drozdovicha Street, 3. At 18.30, the school was holding parent meetings for third graders, a few minutes after the start, one of the 3rd grade students was hit by a car...
The student was taken away by intensive care. The traffic police and the Investigative Committee were at the scene. Apparently, he was seriously injured. I didn’t see the accident itself because I was already at school, but it looks like he got hit by a car while playing with other children.”
The motorist turned to abw.by: “I hope you will highlight the importance of preparing children to behave correctly on the road before the summer holidays.” That's what we do...
The requirement to have a condom in a car's first aid kit was abolished ten years ago, although folklore still remembers a strange duty for drivers. And in driving schools they no longer teach the features of a four-stroke engine. And the notorious road fund went into the archives. Let us remember the abolition of which important principles affected the majority of drivers in Belarus.
Condoms are no longer needed in the medicine cabinet
In the early 2000s, in the mandatory list that every driver had to have in a car first aid kit, among medicines and bandages, a condom suddenly appeared. And it's not a joke! When going on a trip, it was necessary to take care of the availability of this contraceptive.
In fact, there was logic: in this way the idea of safe sex was popularized. The inclusion of condoms in car first aid kits has become part of the HIV/AIDS prevention campaign. It is not so important that the requirement was not always fulfilled, but many people spoke about it. And they joked, by the way, too.
Exactly ten years ago, in 2008, the Ministry of Health approved a new list of medications that should be in the first aid kit. Then condoms were removed from it.
Let us remind you that the contents of the first aid kit are usually checked during a technical inspection. An employee of the diagnostic station has the right to verify the availability of each medicine and product from the list, including checking the expiration date. Traffic police officers have similar powers.
And this is just not know-how. In Western European countries, they also strictly monitor the contents of the car first aid kit. The heroine of one of ours, Antje Sommerfeld (a German woman who lived in Belarus for five years), recalled how she was once fined in Germany for having expired medicine in her car.
Power of attorney is no longer asked
Many drivers no longer remember exactly when the need to have a power of attorney when driving a car registered to another person was abolished. When this norm was introduced, in troubled times, it was a vital necessity and reinsurance - the car could be taken away by force or stolen.
Gradually, the wave of traffic crime subsided, and motorists no longer understood why they needed to have a piece of paper certified by a notary among their driver’s documents.
This made life very difficult if it was necessary to urgently get behind the wheel of someone else’s car (without the presence of the owner).
In the end, the formality was canceled, which made life easier for many Belarusians. Now, to drive a car registered to another person, it is enough to have a registration certificate (technical passport), compulsory insurance and a certificate of inspection, as well as a license and a ticket.
Stopped selling Normal-80
And five years ago, Belarusian gas stations stopped selling Normal-80 gasoline. The justification was this: this type of fuel is environmentally harmful, does not meet modern standards, and besides, the demand for it has decreased many times over.
At the same time, oil refineries announced the production of large volumes of high-octane gasoline grades AI-92 K5, AI-95 K5, AI-92 K5 Euro, AI-95 K5 Euro. This, in turn, led to the lack of technical capabilities for the production of Normal-80 gasoline, which has a low added value. New equipment at the plants was brought to its designed capacity.
However, some experienced motorists are still wondering where the good old Normal-80 (or even AI-76) went. “Why is 80 gasoline not sold at gas stations? I have a Moskvich-412, and another one doesn’t suit him,”- one of the drivers in particular was interested.
The answer from Belneftekhim specialists was as follows: “According to the main manufacturers of carburetor engines for automobiles, all models of engines currently produced can be operated on AI-92 (Regular-92) gasoline, and those produced earlier, including the Moskvich-412 car, allow the use of high-octane gasoline subject to adjustment of engine settings."
By the way, at gas stations in Western Europe you will no longer find gasoline with an octane rating lower than AI-95. However, in Belarus there are no talks about restrictions on sales of the 92nd yet.
No need to turn on headlights
The obligation to drive with headlights on low beam (from November 1 to March 31) was introduced around the clock in 2003. The initiators referred to European experience, which was considered positive.
A year after the innovation, traffic police officers reported: the number of recorded accidents committed during daylight hours decreased by 4%, the number of collisions with pedestrians decreased by 3%, head-on collisions decreased by 7%, and accident victims decreased by 25%.
However, in November 2004, Alexander Lukashenko was indignant at the fact that drivers were required to drive with their headlights on during the day. In particular, he then said: “You drive and watch: the sun is shining, the light - you can’t imagine anything better, and the car is driving with its headlights on. And they torment citizens who are driving cars today. Look at who you put behind the car and give them a good sniff. And who gave you the right to change traffic rules in the first place?”
The tone of Natalya Petkevich’s commentary (who worked as the president’s press secretary at the time) was more official: “The rules that vehicles must travel during daylight hours with their headlights on caused outrage and bewilderment among both drivers and pedestrians. However, this did not improve traffic safety... All those absurdities that do not create additional conditions for traffic safety, but simply interfere with both pedestrians and drivers, should be excluded from the traffic rules.”
Soon this clause in the traffic rules was adjusted. Now it sounds differently and obliges all drivers to turn on low beam headlights during daylight hours during special events (usually traffic police actions).
Driving schools have adjusted their curriculum
Previously, driving schools studied the design of cars quite deeply. One could see how the cadets were cramming the structure of a carburetor engine. In some places, posters and stands have remained from the old days, which now serve more as decoration.
The development of motorization, improving the quality of service and the spread of evacuation services have made many requirements obsolete, and the curriculum has been adjusted. In fact, why does a modern motorist need to know how to change spark plugs or an oil filter if specially trained people can do it quickly and efficiently.
As the specialists involved in training the cadets told us, five hours of theory and one hour of practice are now allotted for studying the car.
However, the cadets themselves say that today they rarely devote time to this topic. And then the service station employees tell anecdotal stories about part 710. The real story of one driving school cadet: “At one of the last classes, the teacher asked if everyone knew how the clutch works. More precisely, what happens if you press the pedal. Everyone screamed out loud: “Yes, the discs are compressing.” I learned the correct answer not at all from a driving school, but from a third-party instructor.”
Road fund and its liquidation
The abolition of the unified road fund backfired first on the quality of roads, and then on the pockets of motorists. Previously, the money came from excise taxes on gasoline and some taxes paid when buying a car. When these fees were cancelled, many rushed to rejoice.
However, road workers complained that the cancellation of the fund had the greatest impact on local roads, as a result of which funding for their maintenance was significantly reduced.
A few years later, it was decided to maintain the condition of the roads at the expense of the state duty, which began to be collected when paying for technical inspection. Then many motorists decided to refuse maintenance. According to Beltechosmotr, more than half of registered cars did not show up at diagnostic stations last year.
It was decided to urgently adjust the procedure for collecting state fees. Now they want to decouple payment from undergoing maintenance, and make the system of charging money for operating highways more flexible.
We experienced another traffic police action "Attention - children!" There is an endless number of such events ahead, traditionally repeated at the beginning and end of the school year. At this time, among other preventive measures, drivers are required to turn on low beam headlights.
This requirement is necessary and useful, and all efforts aimed at reducing the number of accidents involving children, as statistics show, are yielding results. In Minsk, for example, over the 7 months of 2017, the number of such accidents decreased by 30.4% compared to last year (in 2017 - 16 accidents, in 2016 - 23), the number of injured children decreased by 27.3 % (16 children, in 2016 - 22), and deaths - by 100% (no deaths, in 2016 - 1 child).
In a word, the children are alive, the reports are excellent, but is the situation with the low beam so clear?
It is assumed that twice a year, for an average of 10 days, the driver must remember to turn on the headlights, otherwise he will be fined. By the way, how many drivers receive such a penalty is not reported anywhere.
But the transience of the action does not allow the action of turning on the low beam to become automatic; some people simply forget to turn the switch. And others are rightly indignant: yes, during actions they must drive with lights, but the driver has no obligation to monitor the timing of actions.
Go ahead. The promotions are ending, but children continue to go to school. And November drizzle, late dawns and early twilights are hardly more favorable for road users than September sunny days.
In this case, drivers should turn on their headlights in low visibility conditions. Who forgot - this is 300 meters. With such a vague formulation, there is room for imagination to run wild. After all, 300 meters “by eye” can be completely different distances, and the concept of visibility is different for everyone. Therefore, it is customary to look at this requirement of the traffic rules carelessly; often in the autumn-spring period, especially economical comrades consider it safe and acceptable not to turn on the headlights.
Do you feel the difference? Someone “got under attack” on the afternoon of September 1, and someone “drives according to the Rules” in the gray November dawn. And we haven’t yet mentioned the proof that even in bright sunshine!
This whole heap of problems, mutual claims and dissatisfaction could easily be solved with one simple action: making low beams mandatory at least for the duration of the school year. The idea is not new at all; it has a sad history. We remembered all the ins and outs of it. Since the leader of the country expressed his personal critical opinion about the low beam, the traffic police began to refer everyone to the legislator: they say, we are always for it, but we are only executors.
Here one could spit in the face of the bureaucratic system and rely on common sense, responsibility and conscientiousness of drivers... But surveys show that the desire to be more vigilant than prescribed in the Rules is not yet inherent in us, and the arguments of the wallet are even more weighty.
Results of a survey on the topic “Do you turn on low beam headlights during the day?” showed that 29 and 25% of drivers do this if visibility is insufficient or special promotions are being held. Only every fifth person always turns on their low beams; another 15% have their headlights turned on automatically. 7% of respondents admitted that the result depends on whether they forget to turn the switch, and 4% generally drive without lights until dark.
It is noteworthy that over the past two years, people's sentiments have remained virtually unchanged. To the question then, too, only a third of respondents said an unequivocal “yes.”
Well there is no way. In general, people have always been divided into two groups. The former prefer to take responsibility for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, and long before traffic rules, they independently came to the idea that the child and passengers in the car should be buckled up, that the tires should be appropriate for the season, and that the headlights should be turned on. And the latter naively transfer their fate into the wrong hands. Yes, to those same ossified government hands that cannot edit traffic regulations in a timely manner.
In order to prevent road accidents involving children, the State Traffic Inspectorate will hold a special comprehensive event throughout the republic from May 25 to June 5 "Attention - children!", senior inspector for A&P of the Oktyabrsky District Department of Internal Affairs of Minsk, Victoria Tsaruk, told the portal.
“Employees of the internal affairs bodies, together with teachers, will hold various preventive measures, conversations, promotions, round tables in educational institutions, where they will remind children of the basic rules of the road, the impeccable observance of which will allow them to avoid injuries on the roads during the summer holidays,” she said V. Tsaruk.
She added that law enforcement officers will also visit work collectives and parent meetings, where they will remind adults that a very serious and responsible time is coming for them, when they will have to make every effort to prevent trouble from happening to their children.
Particular attention, according to V. Tsaruk, will be paid rules for safe transportation young passengers. Also, traffic patrol units will be closer to places where children gather in large numbers. Traditionally, police officers will take part in ceremonial lines dedicated to the “Last Call” holidays.
“An analysis of the traffic situation indicates that in May-June, due to the end of the school year, the problem of children’s road traffic injuries may worsen,” noted the senior inspector.
In this regard, the State Traffic Inspectorate reminds all drivers of the need to travel during daylight hours. with the vehicle's low beam headlights or daytime running lights turned on(if any) during the period of a special complex event (clause 166.9 of the Traffic Rules of the Republic of Belarus).
The traffic police also asks parents not to leave their children unattended and keep them under control at all times. “Be sure to repeat with your child the basic rules of safe behavior on the road, how to behave in courtyard areas, where it is safe to play ball, ride a bicycle, roller skate, scooter, etc. Despite your worries, the eternal rush, you must not forget about your children. Repeat the rules for crossing the road with your child again, check whether he understands them correctly, and whether he knows how to use this knowledge in real traffic situations,” law enforcement officers urge.
According to the traffic police, over 4 months of this year, 11 road accidents were registered in Minsk involving children under the age of 18, in which 6 child pedestrians, 4 child passengers and 1 child cyclist received injuries of varying severity. Of the 11 road accidents involving minors, 2 were caused by children.
With the onset of the long-awaited warm days and school summer holidays, children will have a lot of free time, and the route of their movement along the streets of our city, due to the lack of classes, will change dramatically. Now they will more often go for walks in parks and other recreational areas. Many people will use a bicycle almost daily as a means of transportation.
This is where a very important moment comes for parents, related to the correct “instruction” about their children’s compliance with the Traffic Rules. There is no doubt that parents should always remind them of this, because the main process of raising a child takes place in the family, although in schools and kindergartens teachers, together with employees of the State Traffic Inspectorate, constantly do this. Summertime is associated with a high risk of danger for children, since in many families they are left at home alone while their parents are at work.
Over the 4 months of 2017, a decrease in the number of road accidents with victims by 28.7% was recorded in Minsk. Child injuries were also reduced by 45.5% compared to the same period in 2016.
Registered involving children under 16 years of age 6
traffic accidents; no incidents in which children died were registered; 6 children received injuries of varying severity, all 6 of them were pedestrians.
The cause of the accident, as a rule, is the driver’s failure to comply with the rules for passing pedestrian crossings, as well as crossing the roadway in an unspecified place, unexpectedly exiting from behind a vehicle or other obstacle, or playing on the roadway.
In order to prevent road accidents involving children with disabilities May 25 to June 5, 2017 The capital's traffic police carries out a set of events in Minsk "Attention - children!", whose main task is to prevent children's road traffic injuries, instill in young road users the skills of safe behavior on the roads, and attract the attention of drivers, parents and teachers to the problem of children's road injuries.
Special attention will be paid to the rules for transporting children with the mandatory use of child restraints. Also, the capital's State Traffic Inspectorate reminds that in accordance with paragraph 166.9 of the traffic rules of the Republic of Belarus, during the period of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carrying out republican special comprehensive measures to ensure road safety, vehicle drivers are required to travel during daylight hours with low beam headlights or daytime running lights on.
Dear parents, drivers! Strictly follow the rules for crossing pedestrian crossings. Be prepared for the sudden appearance of children on the road, especially near childcare centers, schools, cinemas, parks, and public transport stops.
The State Traffic Inspectorate of the capital is also holding a set of events in Minsk "Attention - children!" – don’t forget to turn on the headlights!