Adygea holds rally in memory of victims of road accidents

On November 8, a rally was initiated and organized by the local department of the STSI (State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, known in Russia as GIBDD) of the MIA of the Republic of Adygea.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that people started coming to Lenin Square since morning. In total, more than 500 persons took part in the rally: local MPs, officials from the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the republic, churchmen from the Maikop and Adygea Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Adygea and Krasnodar Territory, heads of the STSI of Adygea and the Republic's Committee on Youth, students and activists of the movement "Young Traffic Inspectors", who arrived there from all the corners of Adygea.

"The main objective of the rally is to affect the consciousness of traffic actors in order to reduce the count of road accidents and save lives," said Yuri Tlekhas, Chief State Road Safety Inspector of the Republic of Adygea.

In the central square of Maikop, the capital of Adygea, - Lenin Square, where the rally was held, banners could be seen with appeals to be vigilant on the road, and stands with photos depicting accidents with serious consequences.

Mr Tlekhas cited statistics, according to which 468 traffic accidents happened in the roads of Adygea during the first 10 months of this year, in which 110 persons perished and 577 were injured. Compared to the same period of 2009, there were a bit less accidents and victims, but the number of casualties increased - by 10 persons.

The rally was addressed by Mariat Alieva, Deputy Minister of Education and Sciences of Adygea, who noted that 1500 persons perish every day on the roads of Russia in road accidents.

"Traffic rules should be vaccinated to every child from early age, as it is done in educational institutions of Adygea," said Alieva. "But because of the growth in the country of the number of accidents involving children, I'd like to raise once again the issue of giving lessons on traffic rules in schools not as optional but as mandatory in every class."

The need of propaganda work with the population was also stressed by Mugdin Chermit, an MP of Adygea. "Among the officials of Adygea, who have car with 'nice' number plates, there is a tradition of driving along the opposite traffic lane," he said.

According to his story, all the problems stem from the fact that people fail to follow the legislation; he believes that "it is necessary to multiply toughen the punishment for violating traffic rules and remove the subjective factor away from the roads; we need video cameras there, which depend on nothing and nobody."

The rally ended with laying flowers in memory of road accident victims and a minute of silence.