Serious traffic accidents happening again after state of emergency: 5 motorcyclists already died

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The weekend behind us was marked by serious traffic accidents in which entire families were killed. Even during the state of emergency, there were serious accidents and casualties in Serbia. Vladimir Vida from the Traffic Police Administration has told RTS that speeding is the most common factor behind fatal accidents.

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Two days ago, in the village of Ranutovac, a bus driver was killed in a collision with a truck. The day before, two people died while one was injured in a traffic accident that happened on the Valjevo-Belgrade road in the village of Popucke.

Vladimir Vida from the Traffic Police Administration says that 24 people have died on Serbian roads since the state of emergency was lifted.

"That's a really big number. However, it should be taken into account that it is May, that the weather has improved, there are more cyclists and motorcyclists on our roads, a higher traffic intensity, so more accidents are to be expected," says Vida.

He points out that statistics are the same as in the same period last year - from May 6 until 29.

In the period from March 16 to May 6, when the state of emergency was in force, 33 people were killed in traffic accidents.

"We can say that compared to the previous year, the number of fatalities was halved. At that time, 67 people died in the same period, and the situation is similar with the number of those injured. The least people died during the night, which is to be expected considering the ban on movement," says Vida.

Motorcyclists are back on the streets

Vladimir Vida stressed that speeding is the most common influencing factor that leads to traffic accidents.

Vladimir Vida / Photo: RTS Printscreen

"There was a lot of talk in the media during the state of emergency that a large number of drivers were drastically violating the speed limit rules. I can point out that in contact with colleagues from abroad, we learned that they had the same problem there. Simply, a small number of irresponsible drivers used the opportunity when there were fewer vehicles on the roads," Vida explains.

He says that motorcyclists are on the streets again after a long time, that in part they are  unprepared, and in part other drivers are unprepared to them, so in the period since the state of emergency has been lifted, as many as 5 motorcyclists lost their lives.

"Cyclists are also a very vulnerable category of participants in traffic, especially since they are often elderly people. Last year, as many as 65 cyclists were killed on our roads, which is a really large number. Accidents often happened in the evening and at night because the cyclists don't wear reflective materials, while their bicycles are not properly marked," Vladimir Vida points out.

He says that one fifth of all accidents with tragic consequences have the drivers' alcohol consumption as the influencing factor.

(Telegraf.rs)