Road accidents killed some 14,000 Russians since January

Some 14,000 people have died in traffic-related accidents in Russia since the beginning of the year, according to fresh statistics from the country’s road police. More than 107,000 road accidents resulting in deaths and injuries were registered in Russia in January-July 2012. Over 13,800 people died in those accidents (a 3-percent increase year-on-year) and some 137,700 have been injured (some 7 percent more than in 2011). Last year, 28,000 people died in almost 200,000 traffic accidents in Russia, which has a population of some 142 million. In the United States, home to some 314 million people, more than 30,000 people die in road accidents every year. Most of the accidents registered in Russia over the past seven month have occurred because of drivers violating traffic rules, including speeding, crossing over into the opposite lane and ignoring red lights, the statistics show. Such violations claimed the lives of 12,150 since January and left some 125,600 people injured. The poor state of roads has been the second major – and increasingly frequent – cause of accidents, with some 24,600 such accidents registered in Russia over the past seven months – a 8.7 rise year-on-year. Poor road maintenance resulted in 3,900 traffic-related deaths in January-July, which is 16.5 more that in the same period of last year, and left some 32,000 people injured, a 10.7 % increase year-on-year. Drunk drivers have killed more than 1,000 people and injured more than 9,850 in some 6,700 accidents since January, but the death toll from such accidents has decreased by some 12 % year-on-year. In 2010, then President Dmitry Medvedev signed a bill enforcing a zero alcohol limit for drivers. The legislation prohibited drivers from getting behind the wheel with any amount of alcohol in their blood. Drunk drivers in Russia face suspension of their license for a period of between 18 to 36 months. In late July, President Vladimir Putin proposed introducing tougher penalties for those driving while intoxicated.