Road usersdetermine how they will use the road by making a selection on the use of roads. In other words, the driver being a road user driving the vehicle over the speed limit although they have the option of driving the vehicle slowly amongst their options or the road user being a pedestrian trying to cross the street despite the red light are referred to as unsafe road user choices. Likewise, answering the phone call while driving, calling the missed call when available, or going on a holiday driving the vehicle despite knowing that you are exhausted are also the choices of road users.

Drivers generallydo not bear the blame rather lay it on the other road users’ door when it comes to driving a vehicle. Nonetheless, all road users have the liability to comply with the traffic rules. In the period between the years 2021-2030, when the Strategy Paper will be put into practice, the road user behaviours taken to a certain point as a result of efforts made so far need to be supported on complying with traffic rules.

The most effective intervention method to ensure that road users comply with the traffic rules is the traffic controls. It is necessary to strengthen the understanding referred to as the “Perceived Risk of Being Caught” that the road user will be caught when committing a traffic violation and apply sanction immediately after the identification of violation to ensure a change in the behaviours of road users toward complying with the rules.

Human, due to its psychological structure, think theywill not be involved in a traffic accident and believe as though accidents happen only to other people. In this case, it is necessary to eliminate the potential behaviour to an accident before an accident happens as the most effective method to ensure the compliance of humans to traffic rules to keep them away from accidents. Supporting controls with trainings and campaigns on raising the awareness of road users strengthens the “Perceived Risk of Being Caught”.

The control of accident causes such as overspeeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, not using the seatbelt, distracting behaviours, and tiredness has become easier along with the suppose of traffic control with technological advancements.154

All road users must act with a sense of responsibility and think of other road users as well.

Supporting the proper road user behaviours is of key importance in terms of preventing traffic accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to create a traffic culture, in which people are respectful to traffic controls, act in line with the traffic rules and demand the control of the compliance with these rules.

It is necessary to strengthen the infrastructure of the road network system, elevate the safety measures on vehicles to a sufficient level, and direct and train the behaviours of road users to ensure that they comply with traffic rules as well as making regulations to prevent unsafe overspeeding considering that humans may make mistakes within the safe traffic system.

There will be a serious decrease in the number of deaths and serious injuries on roads in case road users act in line with all traffic rules, act carefully and responsibly while driving, drive their vehicles at a safe speed, avoid using cell phones while driving, and use seatbelts.

The false choices of road users negatively affect the vulnerable road users, especially those with disabilities, elderly people, and children. People in this group are afraid of travelling in traffic and experience a kind of social isolation because the vehicles overspeed on roads, the bicycles and motorcycle riders overspeed on the walking trail, and drive and ride aggressively.

It is extremely important to create a traffic culture in which all road users display proper behaviours towards traffic rules and act respectfully to the environment and other road users as a common demand of all citizens and therefore ensure a social traffic safety awareness, and that deaths and serious injuries resulting from traffic accidentsare not accepted as normal.

The faulty behaviours of road users continue to become the main reason for deaths and injuries.

Driving a motor vehicle or riding a motorcycle are actions requiring knowledge, skills, and attention continuously. A large part of the road users complies with the rules and make accurate choices, while some occasionally display behaviours pushing the limits, or make wrong choices. The embodiment of this wrong choice or compulsive behaviour happens either as driving through a crowded intersection with an excessive speed or passing very close to a school bicycle. And sometimes reading a message on the phone or focusing on what the person in the other seat says, therefore the split-second inattentiveness results in dire consequences.

All behaviours referred to as the faulty road user behaviours such as speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or substance, not using seatbelt or child protection equipment, driving while tired or restless, and without driver’s license cause people to get harmed as a result of traffic accidents.

Faults such as overspeeding and driving under the influence of alcohol or substance are the leading causes of death in traffic accidents. Some medications used with a prescription are known to make the driver sleepy or prevent them from focusing their attention.

The driver gets completely distracted when using alcohol and substance at the same time and their effect on the driving skills is doubled. The drug test kits currently used is effective in detecting the substance use of drivers as well as being amongst the problems experienced in terms of practical use due to reasons such as being able to use in points of application or roadside control turn-outs, and the fact that pre-testing procedures take time.

On the other hand, a very small group of drivers amongst all perform a consistent risky behaviour and violate traffic rules insistently. The percentage of these drivers in being involved in accidents involving death and injury is quite high although their numbers are small. The ones are driving without a driver’s license, driving under the influence of alcohol, the ones with speeding habits, illegally street racing, and drifting amongst these drivers. The common control methods may be ineffective for these driver groups.

It is necessary to review the social acknowledgement and behaviour on traffic safety.

It is observed that the campaign and promotion activities to raise the awareness of society on the traffic rules established to focus on the fight against speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and substance, and vehicle safety and pedestrian safety worldwide.

It is necessary to continue the campaign and awareness-raising activities to create traffic safety awareness in the following decade the Strategy Paper incapsulated. Campaigns aim to ensure a behavioural change in road users and develop behaviours considering other road users. The attention of the public is drawn to traffic safety fields such as the importance of road infrastructure, of vehicle safety, and speed management thanks to these campaigns.

It is necessary to review the trainings provided and the validity period of driver’s license, and the trainings according to how the accident happened and new situations arising in the area while the practice to provide trainings in driving courses and certify driver’s license as a result of the best training continues. Additionally, the persons driving without a driver’s license should also show an effort to receive a driver’s license.

The conditions on driver training and driver’s license are amongst the main factors affecting the way we used the road. It is necessary to show more effort on developing driver skills in the process of the provision of driver’s license. It is necessary to strengthen the skills of bicycle and motorcycle riders, and young drivers with a special project.

Additionally, the conduct of special programmes or projects is also necessary to ensure the adaptation of people coming to Turkey for visiting, commerce, or tourism to the traffic in Turkey. While promoting Turkey with programmes such as Guest Driver Programme, on one hand, the contribution of guests visiting Turkey temporarily will be ensured on the other.

The “Target-Oriented Controls” targeting risky road user behaviours should be performed uninterruptedly

The traffic controls maintain their importance in terms of eliminating risky road user behaviours and ensuring traffic safety. Phenomenal success was achieved by traffic police to ensure traffic safety by making crucial progress during the implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Strategy and Action Plan covering the years 2011-2020. A new dimension was brought to target-oriented controls with the Traffic Safety Implementation Policy Paper adopted in 2017 and as a result, Turkey ranked amongst few numbers of countries achieving the objective of decreasing traffic accidents by 50% between 2011-2020. Likewise, increasing controls will be performed on violations such as overspeeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and substance, driving wearily and restlessly, using a cell phone, and not using seatbelt or child protection systems being the main types of violations causing traffic accidents in this strategy period as well.

The 2021-2030 Traffic Safety Strategy Paper will ensure the improvement of road infrastructure, traffic controls with technological methods, and the other traffic police controls to focus on risky road sections where accidents frequently happen. Ö

There is a demand in society on increasing the number of traffic controls. The controllers demand society to appreciate all control activities conducted for the health and safety of the entire society and support them as far as possible. The ultimate aim of traffic controls is ensuring the safety of life and property of people. When considered from this point of view, one should react normally to the fact that some control methods and penalties lose their importance and some grow in importance as part of the decrease in the demands of society, and violative behaviours. Diversifying administrative sanctions to eliminate risk behaviours causing serious injuries and deaths is also a method currently followed.

In compliance withthe approach developed recently, efforts on underlying reasons of violative behaviours will be made, rather than only focusing on the road users committing these violations. Efforts that are getting to the root of the problem will be made such as the analysis of drivers committing repeating violations. New methods and fighting strategies getting to the bottom of the problems such as taking risky drivers on a local basis under supervision will be found amongst these efforts.

The “Safe System Approach” requires the change of some prejudices in the traffic safety approach. The “human factor” in the focus of traditional approach on traffic safety is an active subject. As a natural outcome of human accepted as an active subject, the resource of all negativities is accepted as humans. Consequently, strategies are developed assuming that the traffic problem can be solved completely if the human is prevented from causing accidents. All activities, trainings, and campaigns aim at creating a behavioural change in the human factor in traffic as drivers, pedestrians, or passengers. The Safe System Approachdid not eliminate the central role of the human factor in traffic, rather placed it in a stable and vulnerable position as an active and passive subject.155

When comparing traffic police controls with other traffic safety methods in terms of economic cost, it is considered that the frequently performed traffic police controls are more economical than other methods. The following table shows the results obtained in the studies made under the name of Cost-Benefit Analysis:156

Table: Cost/Benefit Analysis of Different Traffic Safety Measures

Resource: Compiled from the efforts of Improving road safety in Sweden (1999) and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Police Enforcement (2000).

The human factor appears as an active subject in some cases as improperly passing and as a passive subject in others as driving wearily and recklessly, not following the traffic lights properly (going through the traffic lights in yellow) in behaviours violating traffic safety. In evaluating the human factor in traffic safety, several factors such as the frequency of driving, the geographical region lived, physical skills, and personality traits are considered, and these factors are evaluated to play different roles in the happening of traffic accidents.157

The road user behaviours, referred to as the “Unsafe Human Behaviours” in traffic, maintains its position amongst the subject of study of science. The practices performed in the field of road safety to minimize the impact of factors causing traffic accidents were represented with 4 Es, which are the Education, Enforcement, Emergency, and Engineering practices.

The number of practices was increased to 7 Es along with the inclusion of other practices as a result of different approaches to ensure traffic safety. All Es identified in the literature can be briefly summarized as follows:158

Education: aims at transferring necessary information and gaining necessary skills to persons with lack of knowledge and skills with the trainings provided for road users.

Enforcement (Control): Traffic controls are considered to have a serious impact on unsafe behaviours displayed intentionally, and electronic control systems in addition to classic ones were put into the service of traffic safety along with the advancement of technology.

Engineering: Practices made to improve the designs and infrastructure quality of roads such as horizontal and vertical signing, the use of lighting technologies, and engineering practices, and to improve design and quality of roads and vehicles such as consolidating the safety equipment of vehicles such as cruise control and airbag.

Exposure: Practices trying to identify under what conditions the traffic accidents occurred and how the traffic accidents can be prevented by averting these conditions by researching whether the physical and physiological conditions the human, as the road user, was exposed to or is currently in have anything to do with the accident happening.

Examination of Competence and Fitness: The examination of various competence and fitness particularly for elderly drivers by analysing the effect of factors such as disease, tiredness, or abstraction on the safe use of vehicles in traffic.

Emergency Response; includes the interventions performed after the traffic accident on the axis of reaching the injured quickly, performing all possible treatment processes on site of the accident, and transporting the injured people to the hospital as soon as possible.

Evaluation: The evaluation of practices performed to contribute to traffic safety on whether they have any effect on traffic safety by means of tangible outputs.

When examining the traffic violations and the factors causing traffic accidents happening as a result of these violations in terms of criminal sociology, it is accepted that persons display a deviation (violation of the limits stipulated by the norms and rules assumed to organize communal living) by going beyond their normal behaviour when committing traffic violations,161 the deviation emerging as driver failure is referred to as “neglect” providing that it is committed indeliberately, and as “violation” if committed in a way to pose a threat to other road users and is a deliberate deviation from safe behaviour.162

In case the results obtained from the researches made in the field of offence and the universal principles accepted in this field are evaluated in terms of traffic rules and the preventiveness of the sanctions stipulated against these rules, it will be contributive to the decision on tangible results on the preventiveness of traffic administrative sanction system on the behaviours of the human factor.163

“Risk of Being Penalized Due to Violation” is one of the matters to be analysed in terms of compliance with traffic rules and constituting one of the subjects of study of behavioural science and juristic psychology.164 The following are the main elements of penalizing due to an offence committed:

a. The risk of being caught by the police,

b. The risk of being subjected to police investigation,

c. The risk of being the subject of an investigation/inquisition by the Prosecution Office/Administrative authorities,

d. The risk of being penalized at the end of the trial,

e. The quality and effects of the penalty to be imposed.

When adapting the aforesaid elements to traffic violations, the risk of being caught reveals to cover the a, b, and c steps in case of a traffic violation. Across traffic procedures, administrative sanction/penalty is applied based on the observation of and measurement the responsible staff perform. The percentage of violation decreases as the risk of being caught increases. The identification and enforcement of the violation are instantaneously performed in the procedure of applying administrative sanction in case of traffic violations. In this case, the impact of the imposition of penalty as soon as possible following the identification of the violation is higher in terms of the psychology of learning. There are also some conditions for the traffic controls to be effective and be able to talk about the presence of preventiveness effect and it means that the preventiveness effect of the traffic police controls are seriously high, if;

• Perceived risk of being caught is high,
• The administrative sanctions are severe,
• The risk of being caught is high,
• The percentage of being imposed a penalty of the ones being caught are high,
• And fast.

The mentioned mechanism shaping with the combination of all elements is referred to as the “Chain of Law”. The most important link of this chain is the “Perceived Risk of Being Caught” to be accepted as the equivalent of the “Risk of Being Imposed Penalty Due to Violation” adapted to the field of traffic safety from the behavioural science and juristic psychology as mentioned above. This is the level of personal concern of the road user committing traffic offence on being caught.

The recommendation of the European Commission on “Control in the field of Traffic Safety” dated 6 April 2004 recommends the traffic police controls and sanctions applied subsequently to become “effective, proportionate, and deterrent”.166

The basic idea behind an effective traffic control must be “increasing the perceived risk of being caught” regardless of which form of violation is targeted. With this design, it is necessary to;167

• announce the traffic police controls sufficiently,
• keep the visibility of traffic police controls high,
• create the idea that police are everywhere every time by promoting the randomly performed controls,
• perform target-oriented controls in places where a specific traffic violation causes a specific accident,
• take necessary measures to ensure that the road users cannot skip out of controls,
• and perform the controls consistently.

Performing the traffic controls integrated with other responsible institutions and organizations and supporting the traffic police controls by ensuring that all the other organizations perform the controls related to matters in their assigned positions without a hitch is crucial within the context of traffic safety.

The priority intervention fields determined based on researches conducted by international organizations are respectively; overspeeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or substance, using cell phones, violating red lights, not fastening seatbelt, not using child protection systems, and wearing the head guard.168

Traffic police control, as well as being an integral part of traffic safety management, it is scientifically impossible to expect the entire benefit of traffic safety from traffic police controls. When examining the methods on traffic control put forth by international organizations, in general, one can see that there are four types of control methods currently used, which are control by traffic units, control through electronic systems, control with in-vehicle devices, and auxiliary elements.

Pulling over drivers committing traffic violation during controls and imposing a penalty on these drivers forms the basis for the controls performed by traffic police. Based on the fact that the physical presence of traffic police over roads have serious preventive and educational impacts on road users, the traffic control activities performed by traffic police diversified in time. While controls based on their objectives are categorized as target-oriented traffic control, integrated traffic control, and general controls, there are also types of controls such as on-site controls and en route controls with official traffic units, on-site controls and en route controls with civil traffic units, and control by air platforms based on the uniformed or non-uniformed traffic police and the vehicle they used.

“General Traffic Controls” are controls performed to ensure that road users feel they are controlled and thus comply with the rules, and in general, to control the mandatory documents related to the vehicle and driver, and the compliance to general traffic rules. The type of control, in which a specific type of violation posing a threat to traffic safety is researched is the “Optional Traffic Controls”, especially the ones in accident blackspots, and as the participation of other units is in question in case the optional traffic control is performed with the participation of and jointly with other units except for traffic police as is in the control of vehicles transporting hazardous materials, these controls are referred to as the “Integrated Traffic Controls”.

“Halo Effect”169 is one of the matters becoming prominent in traffic controls and as a result of examining the investigation reports, it is considered that;170

• the halo effect can be maintained longer in the control performed while driving when compared the usual control,
• it is possible to maintain the halo effect of police controls in durations ranging from 1 hour to 8 weeks,
• the control activities must continue at least 6 days to talk about long-term halo effect in a nutshell.

Amongst the positive aspects of traffic police controls are:171

• contacting the violating driver as soon as possible,
• enabling the police officer to inform the violating driver of the quality of the violation and the potential outcomes if they continue receiving tickets and committing violations,
• the other drivers seeing that the violating driver is pulled over and imposed sanctions, thus displaying behaviours complying with the rules.

Amongst the negative aspects of traffic police controls are that they are:172

• based on labour force,
• open to human-oriented errors,
• and that their percentage of detecting violations are not as high as the controls performed with technological systems.

Electronic traffic control systems are the body of systems aiming at preventing risky behaviours in traffic by ensuring the imposition of necessary administrative sanctions on drivers violating the traffic rules, minimizing the labour force expenditure and human-oriented errors in traffic controls, and consisting of electronic hardware and software to perform the recording of evidence by recording the vehicle and its driver committing a traffic violation. Speed and red-light violations are the leading violations in the other samples of the world as two primary types of violation the electronic control systems used in several countries for thirty years focusing on. However, new types of control have been added to these two primary types of controls thanks to the advancements in technology in the recent period.

TRAFFIC CONTROL AS PART OF THE SAFE SYSTEM APPROACH

According to researches, the use of head guards in bicycles, motor bicycles, and motorcycles has the effect of reducing death and serious injury risk as a result of a traffic accident by 45%.192 One should necessarily wear head guards and goggles during travel to protect oneself from potential traffic accidents. The protective head guards the cyclists use have the potential of reducing head traumas due to traffic accidents by 25%.193

The safety standards of motorcycle and bicycle protective head guards are determined, and the use of protective head guards designed to prevent neck injuries are obligatory in motorcycles reaching high speeds. Preventing the circulation of the types of head guards produced non-standardly and have no other use than being an accessory in the market is found beneficial.

The use of bicycle helmets as a standard practice for cyclists as of early ages is also significant.

The principals on some specific drivers and passengers carrying and using protective equipment while the vehicles are driven were regulated in Article 150 of the Regulation 78 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 and rule No. Annex-1.

Accordingly, special controls for vehicles and drivers are planned and performed on the use of head guards, in particular, to increase the effectiveness of controls along with the K-5 Motorcycle and Motor Bicycle Controls performed across the country.

HEAD GUARD CONTROL IN MOTORCYCLES, ELECTRIC BICYCLE, AND BICYCLES

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Head Guard (Helmet) Controls within the Safe System Approach

1. Making use of head guards whose standards were identified with the legislation without exception in motorcycles, motor bicycles, and bicycles and its wearing it properly for bicyclists obligatory,
2. The obligation of using a head guard to involve the driver and the passenger, if any,
3. Performing controls in all roads and all types of motors,
4. Controlling whether the head guard is worn properly and is in line with the international standards,
5. Subjecting the use of head guards through electronic control systems as well,
6. Focusing on road users in areas where the aforesaid vehicles are densely available in planned controls by taking into account the seasons,
7. Subjecting the motorcycle courier to controls in the presence of the companies they worked with as well as the traffic controls,
8. Subjecting the head guard of the motorcycle to inspection, too, in periodical inspection,
9. Explaining the advantages of wearing head guards, knee and elbow pads, goggles, gloves, and high viz in driver’s training, formal and nonformal education, and awareness-raising campaigns,
10. Developing joint projects with the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer in training and campaigns, carrying out joint projects by keeping in touch with clubs organized by road users,
11. The relevant institutions to share the responsibility to ensure that such vehicles used in public services and users act in accordance with all rules,
12. Requiring the sales of head guards while purchasing a motorcycle, motor bicycle, and bicycle.

According to research examining the way the accidents happen in the European Union countries, the number of deaths happening as a result of a single-vehicle involved in a traffic accident without any other vehicle constitute one third of mortalities happening as a result of the traffic accident. Although the number of persons losing their lives in traffic accidents involving a single vehicle decreased by 43% in European Union countries in the last decade, the total number of deaths is around 95,000 in the aforesaid decade.

More than 60% of the accidents involving a single vehicle and death occur in the roads outside the residential areas. The most effective way to prevent accidents involving a single vehicle happening outside the residential areas is to improve the infrastructure and enforce speed limits according to the road.

The persons losing their lives in accidents involving a single vehicle are drivers and the persons within the vehicle and this group is followed by motorcycle riders and truck and bus drivers. Inexperienced and young drivers are considered to be at more risk in single-vehicle accidents. Young drivers have difficulty in performing the manoeuvres the road required or have an accident, for they cannot make use of the road structure adequately.

Single vehicle accidents generally happen in straight roads and road bends. According to the results of a study carried out in the Netherlands in 2011, the greatest factor is the distractibility of the driver in single-vehicle accidents and overspeeding (27%), alcohol (19%), and tiredness (17%) follow it respectively

Technology and technical progress have various contributions to the transportation sector and the improvement of vehicles. The two-wheeler vehicles group dominated by motorcycle and bicycle until quite recently has changed and varied based on technological developments. The popularity of a new class referred to as the “Two-Wheeled Motor Vehicles” which we are not accustomed to seeing in our roads have started to increase along with the adaptation of electric motors to vehicles and the production of electric-welded movable new vehicles.213

The definition of bicycle and motor bicycle (moped) was updated by making an amendment in Article 3 in which the definitions of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 is available with the Law dated 12.07.2013 and No. 6495 as part of this development.

The motorcycles, maximum constant nominal power of which does not go above 0,25 KW, which goes down as it speeds up and is de-energized completely immediately after reaching a maximum of 25 km/hrs or stopping pedalling were also included in the “Bicycle” definition according to characterization as part of these updates, similarly, the definition of “Motor Bicycle (Moped)” was also updated and defined as four-wheeled vehicles with the same features of two or three-wheeled vehicles with a constant nominal power output of 4 KW if with electric motor or a cylinder volume of 50 cm3 if an internal combustion engine with a maximum speed of 45 km/hrs, and it was adjudicated that the accumulator weights of ones electrically operated wouldn’t be considered in calculating their net weights.

Transportation vehicles referred to as motorcycles, mopeds, and scooters other than bicycles moved with human muscles force are expressed in the “Motor Two-Wheelers” group being a new transportation alternative in international literature. There is not any common definition of this group in the world yet.

Discussions on whether the riders of two-wheeler motor vehicles are vulnerable road users have continued until very recently. The reason behind it is that the road users in this group also present a threat to pedestrians and bicyclists. In today’s literature, one can see that the “Defenceless Road Users” statement is used in cases where the motor two-wheelers are involved in, and the “Vulnerable Road Users” statement when meaning the pedestrians and bicyclists exclusively. The fact that motorcycle riders use head guards (helmets) and protective equipment does not mean that they make this group fully protected against vehicles. This is because the motorcycles do not have the protective equipment such as vehicle body and seatbelt to protect this group as it is inside a vehicle and that they are under greater risk, for the motorcycles they ride to have the capacity to go at much higher speeds.

The process on the type approval efforts for two-wheeler motor vehicles continues

The Regulation on the Type Approval, Market Surveillance, and Control of Two or Three-Wheeler Motor Vehicles and Four-Wheeler Motorcycles (AB/168/2013)” put into practice being published in the Official Gazette dated 22.08.2015 and No. 29453.

Enhancing the driving skills of drivers

Riding a motorcycle and safety is based entirely on the skills, training, experience, and behaviours of the rider. In this respect, it is necessary to act sensitively in the training and certification stages of motorcycle riders known to be at more risk when compared with other vehicles. The basic training and refreshment/updating trainings should be provided for motorcycle riders to that end. Practices such as imposing restrictions to the motor volume of motorcycles to be ridden with training at a certain level are recommended by grading within the training.

One should react normally to the fact that motorcycles are subjected to special procedures due to such reasons like the fact that motorcycles have inadequate visibility, other road users do not have enough knowledge on the speed of motorcycles, the motorcycles can reach high-level speeds in very short distances, and that a minor mistake to be made in high speed has fatal consequences.

It is possible to make similar efforts by taking the “Motorcycle Training First Level Training Guideline” prepared by the European Union Commission on dividing the training into stages as an example.214

Providing a safe environment for the riders of two-wheeler motor vehicles

Several accidents in which two-wheeler motor vehicles are involved reveal that infrastructure improvements are necessary. There are several guidelines and reference efforts in this regard in the literature. It is important to construct the non-skid road surface design and roadside elements and structures to protect the two-wheeler motor vehicles in the road design, construction, and maintenance.

The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) including the risk assessment and performance monitoring criteria on two-wheeler motor vehicles in their road assessment is welcomed.215

It is understood that around 12,5% of decrease has happened in the loss of lives in traffic accidents in the first 10-months period of 2020 when compared with the same period of the previous year and that the percentage of motorcycle riders to be involved in a traffic accident was 18,8% in the first 10-months period of 2020 according to the analysis of statistical data.

Special controls are planned and performedalong with the general controls performed for K-5 Motorcycle and Motor Bicycles across the country to minimize traffic accidents, maximize the compliance of driver to traffic rules, and increase the perceived risk of being caught on road users through control activities.

The following matters are examined in the control of:

1. Valid insurance, technical inspection, and vehicle registration documents and the compliance of registration plates to standards identified in the legislation and over the vehicle, and stolen records, PolNet computer records,
2. The visibility of vehicle plates and (abrasion, scraping, pollution, cover-up, distortion) over it, and light equipment,
3. Its compliance with technical conditions, especially service brake, tires, and light equipment (overt exhaust, external sound system, etc. to disturb the environment)
4. The riders using head guard (helmets) and goggles, and the passengers using head guards (helmets).

iii. Traffic Control in County Roads

TRAFFIC CONTROLS IN COUNTY ROADS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety in Country Roads Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

1. Preparing local control plans by analysing the traffic accidents happening on county roads,
2. Targeting “Zero Loss of Life” while planning the control plans,
3. Acting with the idea of teaching the road and environment properties of the area they live in, get the road users to adopt a habit in control plans, and prevent accidents,
4. Focusing on reckless and inexperienced driver topics as well as speed, alcohol, cell phone, tiredness, and other distracting elements in the planning of traffic controls,
5. Performing the speed limits by building Average Speed Control Corridors in proper sections of routes,
6. Performing mobile speed controls by radar to involve all county roads and fixed speed controls in areas with a high frequency of accidents,
7. Performing controls to eliminate the habit of riding a non-registered motorcycle or without a registration plate in county roads and performing controls on the conformity of the plate to standards and its visibility in ones with a registration plate,
8. Performing breath tests by pulling over all suspected vehicles to prevent the habit of driving under the influence of alcohol in county roads and targeting at least one-fifth of the vehicles with a registration to be controlled in that area annually,
9. Performing the breath tests of drivers in public order practices,
10. Performing the controls visibly to fight against driving under the influence of narcotics and psychotropic substance,
11. Performing seatbelt controls for 1-4 weeks and intensively at least two times a year,
12. Informing and warning the drivers on not to take the road without checking in intersections by performing controls right before the junction points where the roads cross,
13. Taking necessary measures to place signboards on road sections used by animals fed in rural areas and wild animals as passageways by performing controls, lower speed limits, inform the local community, reshape the living space of wild animals according to the road by informing the relevant units on the conditions causing the passage of wild animals or prevent them from rushing to the road uncontrollably.

The Electronic Control Systems, recommended by the United Nations, European Union, World Health Organization and other relevant international organizations, to be used in traffic controls and used in developed countries as from the beginning of 2000s, has been started to be used in the traffic controls performed in Turkey in the recent years, and the Directorate General of Security still performs the control activities through the Electronic Controls Systems established;

i. within the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918,

ii. the Speedway Electronic Control Systems,

iii. and the LPR-ECS project conducted through the City Safety Management System in Turkey.

iii. Traffic Controls with Alcolocks, Event Data Records and Similar in- car System

g. The Contribution of “Control Assistive Elements” on Traffic Safety as part of the Safe System Approach