TIRANA, May 9 – The lack of road safety standards and a missing barrier separating highway lanes in central Albania is believed responsible for the highway fatal crash last weekend in Kavaja, which claimed the lives of two little children.
Silva Negollari, a mother of three, was driving her children to pay a visit to her incarcerated husband when she lost control of the vehicle and crashed with a disconnected part of the guardrail which penetrated the vehicle causing two fatalities. Two children, three and five respectively, who authorities believe were not restrained with safety belts lost their lives following the crash.
Prosecutors suspect that one of the main reasons behind the tragic accident is also the absence of safety standards in this particular road.
The local police station claims that they have reported the missing part of the separating guard rail, but road authorities have failed to take appropriate measures. In fact, days following the accidents the separating barrier where the accident took place was still missing.
Investigations have revealed that the local court had ruled in favor of the opposing lanes not to be separated by guard rails, a decision believed to have been taken in order to favor a gas station nearby despite posing a danger to motorists.
The decision was overturned by an appeal’s court, however no action was taken. According to road experts, tragedy could have been avoided if the protective barriers were in place. Only in the first four months of 2016, eighty people have lost their lives in road accidents, the total number of which exceeds 600.
Another factor contributing to high fatalities is the lack of metallic nets preventing pedestrians or animals from crossing the highway, who often become involved in fatal crashes.
