Better education, tighter enforcement and investments in infrastructure are needed to improve road safety
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
The headlines of deadly road accidents have become so common in Albania in recent years, much of the population has become numb at how deadly this country’s roads are. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With the better safety education for drivers and pedestrians, stricter enforcement of road rules and more investment in safe infrastructure things can get better.
And they have to get better, because the status quo is unacceptable. Simply put the data is frighting. Albania on average sees 2,800-3,ooo traffic-related accidents per year, with 350 dead on average and 1,800 wounded. Taking into consideration that the country’s population is only 2.8 million, those figures are striking.
But the two past months have been particularly deadly. A group of teenagers in the northwest, an extended family in the south נthe deadly toll has been hard to ignore. Not even lawmakers are safe, as the country lost a senior politician to a vehicle rollover this week.
It’s time to act. That action starts with education from kindergarten for kids up to the aging communist-era drivers and those who are just getting their licenses as adults. Things like putting on a seatbelt as soon as you enter the vehicle or respecting white lines and traffic lights might seem simple and basic, but if you have observed any Albanian road for any length of time, you will notice they are not. These things are already in the books, there just needs to be societal change that places safety ahead of everything else for them to be observed.
As with everything else in Albania, enforcement is a problem. Albania’s police force has the right ideas they just need to properly implement them. Police have increased their presence and increased fines, they say, all while educating all those sharing Albanian roads to pay close attention to traffic laws, whether they are drivers or pedestrians.
It has done similar things in the past, but they are done in campaigns. They should be ongoing instead.
At the end of the day Albania has a high accident rate mainly due to the lack of respect of rules. Traffic police say they are trying to exert pressure by increasing their presence, higher fines and educational tools for drivers. A significant increase of the fines issued has been seen in recent days, according to police, but it remains to be seen what its effect will be.
Drunk driving is a problem in some cases, and finally police have also issued new regulations that allow for zero tolerance on drivers found drunk. They are to be arrested on the spot, according to the new regulation. Previously, the arrest was the discretion of the officer on the scene.
Police have also complained that enforcement is not entirely up to them and that courts must impose higher penalties. We agree. And these penalties must be very harsh for small offences as well. Placing higher punishments on minor traffic offences will ultimately improve enforcement and prevent big accidents from happening.
Albania has come a long way when it comes to its infrastructure, but major problems remain. Improving road safety also involves safer highways. At the end of the day, human lives are at stake. And nothing is more important than safeguarding lives.
