Implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Concept in Belarus

Abstract

For more than 10 years, there has been a decrease in the number of road traffic accidents in Belarus, as well as in the number of fatalities and injuries in them. Compared to 1998, in 2017 the number of fatalities decreased by a factor of 3.1. The positive dynamics was achieved largely due to the adoption of the Road Traffic Safety Concept in 2006. The Concept envisaged the implementation of a set of engineering measures aimed at improving the road infrastructure.

The absolute values associated with the accident rate are of little use when it is necessary to compare several countries. For this purpose, the total number of fatalities in relation to the population size, to the car fleet size, and some other indicators have been applied internationally. Using these indicators, the situation in Belarus does not look optimal. The number of fatalities per 1 million cars in Belarus is higher than in most of the neighboring countries of the EU and significantly higher than in the leading countries in the sphere of road traffic safety, including those which have adopted the Vision Zero policy. At the same time, starting from 2011, the accident rate reduction in Belarus has slowed down. It can be assumed that the accident rate asymptotically approaches the limit in accordance with Smeed’s Law, according to which the fatality rate in road traffic accidents per car fleet unit decreases as motorization increases.

Remaining within the traditional for Belarus engineering activity, which mainly amounts to road maintenance, it is unlikely that road traffic safety will be significantly improved. Based on the analysis of international road traffic safety, as well as taking into account the local specific features, the article discusses measures, the implementation of which will allow to achieve a qualitatively new level of road traffic safety.