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T.C. İÇİŞLERİ BAKANLIĞI

WEB SİTESİ GİZLİLİK VE ÇEREZ POLİTİKASI

T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı tarafından işletilen www.icisleri.gov.tr web sitesini ziyaret edenlerin kişisel verilerini 6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu uyarınca işlemekte ve gizliliğini korumaktayız. Bu Web Sitesi Gizlilik ve Çerez Politikası ile ziyaretçilerin kişisel verilerinin işlenmesi, çerez politikası ve internet sitesi gizlilik ilkeleri belirlenmektedir.

Çerezler (cookies), küçük bilgileri saklayan küçük metin dosyalarıdır. Çerezler, ziyaret ettiğiniz internet siteleri tarafından, tarayıcılar aracılığıyla cihazınıza veya ağ sunucusuna depolanır. İnternet sitesi tarayıcınıza yüklendiğinde, çerezler cihazınızda saklanır. Çerezler, internet sitesinin düzgün çalışmasını, daha güvenli hale getirilmesini, daha iyi kullanıcı deneyimi sunmasını sağlar. Oturum ve yerel depolama alanları da çerezlerle aynı amaç için kullanılır. İnternet sitemizde çerez bulunmamakta, oturum ve yerel depolama alanları çalışmaktadır.

Web sitemizin ziyaretçiler tarafından en verimli şekilde faydalanılması için çerezler kullanılmaktadır. Çerezler tercih edilmemesi halinde tarayıcı ayarlarından silinebilir ya da engellenebilir. Ancak bu web sitemizin performansını olumsuz etkileyebilir. Ziyaretçi tarayıcıdan çerez ayarlarını değiştirmediği sürece bu sitede çerez kullanımını kabul ettiği varsayılır.

1.Kişisel Verilerin İşlenme Amacı

Web sitemizi ziyaret etmeniz dolayısıyla elde edilen kişisel verileriniz aşağıda sıralanan amaçlarla T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı tarafından Kanun’un 5. ve 6. maddelerine uygun olarak işlenmektedir:

  • T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı tarafından yürütülen ticari faaliyetlerin yürütülmesi için gerekli çalışmaların yapılması ve buna bağlı iş süreçlerinin gerçekleştirilmesi,
  • T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı tarafından sunulan ürün ve hizmetlerden ilgili kişileri faydalandırmak için gerekli çalışmaların yapılması ve ilgili iş süreçlerinin gerçekleştirilmesi,
  • T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı tarafından sunulan ürün ve hizmetlerin ilgili kişilerin beğeni, kullanım alışkanlıkları ve ihtiyaçlarına göre özelleştirilerek ilgili kişilere önerilmesi ve tanıtılması.
 
2.Kişisel Verilerin Aktarıldığı Taraflar ve Aktarım Amacı

Web sitemizi ziyaret etmeniz dolayısıyla elde edilen kişisel verileriniz, kişisel verilerinizin işlenme amaçları doğrultusunda, iş ortaklarımıza, tedarikçilerimize kanunen yetkili kamu kurumlarına ve özel kişilere Kanun’un 8. ve 9. maddelerinde belirtilen kişisel veri işleme şartları ve amaçları kapsamında aktarılabilmektedir.

3.Kişisel Verilerin Toplanma Yöntemi

Çerezler, ziyaret edilen internet siteleri tarafından tarayıcılar aracılığıyla cihaza veya ağ sunucusuna depolanan küçük metin dosyalarıdır. Web sitemiz ziyaret edildiğinde, kişisel verilerin saklanması için herhangi bir çerez kullanılmamaktadır.

4.Çerezleri Kullanım Amacı

Web sitemiz birinci ve üçüncü taraf çerezleri kullanır. Birinci taraf çerezleri çoğunlukla web sitesinin doğru şekilde çalışması için gereklidir, kişisel verilerinizi tutmazlar. Üçüncü taraf çerezleri, web sitemizin performansını, etkileşimini, güvenliğini, reklamları ve sonucunda daha iyi bir hizmet sunmak için kullanılır. Kullanıcı deneyimi ve web sitemizle gelecekteki etkileşimleri hızlandırmaya yardımcı olur. Bu kapsamda çerezler;

İşlevsel: Bunlar, web sitemizdeki bazı önemli olmayan işlevlere yardımcı olan çerezlerdir. Bu işlevler arasında videolar gibi içerik yerleştirme veya web sitesindeki içerikleri sosyal medya platformlarında paylaşma yer alır.

Teknik olarak web sitemizde kullanılan çerez türleri aşağıdaki tabloda gösterilmektedir.

Oturum Çerezleri

(Session Cookies)

Oturum çerezleri ziyaretçilerimizin web sitemizi ziyaretleri süresince kullanılan, tarayıcı kapatıldıktan sonra silinen geçici çerezlerdir. Amacı ziyaretiniz süresince İnternet Sitesinin düzgün bir biçimde çalışmasının teminini sağlamaktır. (ASP.NET_SessionId)

 

Web sitemizde çerez kullanılmasının başlıca amaçları aşağıda sıralanmaktadır:

  • • İnternet sitesinin işlevselliğini ve performansını arttırmak yoluyla sizlere sunulan hizmetleri geliştirmek,
5.Çerez Tercihlerini Kontrol Etme

Farklı tarayıcılar web siteleri tarafından kullanılan çerezleri engellemek ve silmek için farklı yöntemler sunar. Çerezleri engellemek / silmek için tarayıcı ayarları değiştirilmelidir. Tanımlama bilgilerinin nasıl yönetileceği ve silineceği hakkında daha fazla bilgi edinmek için www.allaboutcookies.org adresini ziyaret edilebilir. Ziyaretçi, tarayıcı ayarlarını değiştirerek çerezlere ilişkin tercihlerini kişiselleştirme imkânına sahiptir.  

6.Veri Sahiplerinin Hakları

Kanunun “ilgili kişinin haklarını düzenleyen” 11. maddesi kapsamındaki talepleri, Politika’da düzenlendiği şekilde, ayrıntısını Başvuru Formunu’nu Bakanlığımıza ileterek yapabilir. Talebin niteliğine göre en kısa sürede ve en geç otuz gün içinde başvuruları ücretsiz olarak sonuçlandırılır; ancak işlemin ayrıca bir maliyet gerektirmesi halinde Kişisel Verileri Koruma Kurulu tarafından belirlenecek tarifeye göre ücret talep edilebilir.

 

  • Stakeholder Institutions
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Road Traffic Safety
Road Traffic Safety
  • STRATEGY PAPER

    Strategy Paper

    This section contains the details of the Road Traffic Safety Strategy Paper

    • Preface
    • Executive Summary
    • 1.Situation Assessment
    • 2.Our Traffic Safety Mission
    • 3.Our Traffic Safety Vision
    • 4.Guidelines
    • 5.Core Values
    • 6.Method and Procedure
    • 7.Measures to be taken and works to be done
      • Priority Areas/Speed
      • Priority Areas/Vulnerable Road Users
      • Priority Areas/Accident Blackspots
      • Intervention Areas/Management
      • Intervention Areas/Infrastructre
      • Intervention Areas/Vehicles
      • Intervention Areas/Education
      • Intervention Areas/Enforcement
      • Intervention Areas / Post Accident
    • 8.The Future of Traffic Safety
    • 9.Measurement and Evaluation
    • 10.Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators
    • 11.References
  • ACTION PLAN

    Action Plan

    This section contains the details of the Road Traffic Safety Strategy Paper

    • 1.Priority Areas
      • Overspeed
      • Vulnerable Road Users
      • Improvement of Accident Blackspots
    • 2.Fields to be Intervened
      • Traffic Safety Management
      • Infrastructure:Road and Road Environment
      • Vehicles
      • Educations for Road Users
      • Traffic Enforcement Activities
      • Post-Accident Response, Care and Rehabilition
  • INSTITUTIONAL

    İnstitutional

    In addition to our Institutional Documents and Information, you can reach the Road Traffic Safety Strategy Boards and Groups under this title.

    • Cooperation Board
    • Monitoring and Implementation Board
    • Expert Groups
    • Stakeholder Institutions Publications
    • Legislation
      • Presidential Circular
      • Ministry Order
      • Procedures and Principles
    • Organizational Structure
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • CURRENT

    Current

    Developments and progress in the Strategy Paper and Action Plan

    • Development and Progress
    • News
    • Announcements
  • PUBLICATIONS

    Publications

    You can find all Videos, Games, Books, Articles and Researches about Safe Traffic under this title.

    • United Nations
      • Declarations
      • WHO
      • UNRSTF
      • GRSF
      • UNCTAD
      • GRSP
    • European Union
      • European Commission
      • ERSO
      • ETSC
    • Other Countries
    • Other International Organizations
    • Stakeholder Publications
    • Books, Articles, Researches
  • CONTACT
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  • STRATEGY PAPER
    • Preface
    • Executive Summary
    • 1.Situation Assessment
    • 2.Our Traffic Safety Mission
    • 3.Our Traffic Safety Vision
    • 4.Guidelines
    • 5.Core Values
    • 6.Method and Procedure
    • 7.Measures to be taken and works to be done
      • Priority Areas/Speed
      • Priority Areas/Vulnerable Road Users
      • Priority Areas/Accident Blackspots
      • Intervention Areas/Management
      • Intervention Areas/Infrastructre
      • Intervention Areas/Vehicles
      • Intervention Areas/Education
      • Intervention Areas/Enforcement
      • Intervention Areas / Post Accident
    • 8.The Future of Traffic Safety
    • 9.Measurement and Evaluation
    • 10.Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators
    • 11.References
  • ACTION PLAN
    • 1.Priority Areas
      • Overspeed
      • Vulnerable Road Users
      • Improvement of Accident Blackspots
    • 2.Fields to be Intervened
      • Traffic Safety Management
      • Infrastructure:Road and Road Environment
      • Vehicles
      • Educations for Road Users
      • Traffic Enforcement Activities
      • Post-Accident Response, Care and Rehabilition
  • INSTITUTIONAL
    • Cooperation Board
    • Monitoring and Implementation Board
    • Expert Groups
    • Stakeholder Institutions Publications
    • Legislation
      • Presidential Circular
      • Ministry Order
      • Procedures and Principles
    • Organizational Structure
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • CURRENT
    • Development and Progress
    • News
    • Announcements
  • PUBLICATIONS
    • United Nations
      • Declarations
      • WHO
      • UNRSTF
      • GRSF
      • UNCTAD
      • GRSP
    • European Union
      • European Commission
      • ERSO
      • ETSC
    • Other Countries
    • Other International Organizations
    • Stakeholder Publications
    • Books, Articles, Researches
  • CONTACT

Intervention Areas/Enforcement

5. TRAFFIC ENFORCMENT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF SAFE SYSTEM APPROACH

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.

 1. TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT

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

Traffic Safety Measure

Cost/Benefit

Road infrastructure safety control

1.1

Improvement of road design and roadside equipment

1.9

Carrying out road maintenance especially for winter

2.5

Controlling traffic especially with new speed limits

2.2

New safety standards for motor vehicles

1.3

Driver training, public information campaigns, and training activities

3.0

Increasing the traffic officer control

3.3

All road safety measures

1.8

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.

Eğitim

(Education)

Denetleme

(Enforcement)

Mühendislik

(Engineering)

TRAFİK GÜVENLİĞİ

Acil Durum Müdahalesi

(Emergency Response)

Yeterlik ve Uygunluk İncelemesi

(Examination of Competence

and Fitness)

Maruz Kalma

(Exposure)

Değerlendirme

(Evaluation)

       

 

Resource: Handbook of Traffic Psychology, Academic Press, Elsevier, USA, 2011

In efforts based on this approach, 80% – 90% road users (driver, passenger, and pedestrian), 10% – 20% the road structure, and the remainder 10% as other factors are accepted as the cause of traffic accidents.159

To ensure that traffic controls are effective, the control strategies need to be problem-oriented, have pre-determined aims and objectives, be measurable and assessable in accordance with the success criteria of activities planned to be carried out within the strategy, and in an observable quality as part of the generation of strategic processes and outcomes. The traffic control strategies need to be transcribed and their results be gradually shared with the public.

The traffic control strategies are directly associated with what the drivers committing violation think about the outcomes of their violative behaviours. Therefore, the sanction power of rules and penalties in that country and the objective and subjective results of not complying with the traffic rules directly influence the control strategies of traffic police. The factors on contributing to traffic safety in the preparation and implementation of traffic control strategies by influencing the driver behaviours are as follows:

 2. PENALIZING TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS AS PART OF SAFE SYSTEM APPROACH AND PERCEIVED RISK OF BEING CAUGHT

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.

According to the results of a study carried out in Germany in 2009,165 the following table comes into view when subjecting the traffic tickets to a hierarchical order amongst one another:

In terms of the deterrence of traffic tickets, the persons intending violating traffic rules should know that the risk they take by violating the rule is so severe to cause them bigger loss than the achievement they expect to get out of the rule they violate and that the penalty stipulated will be too severe, which means that the person with the potential to violate traffic rules needs to be aware of;

• The severity of the risk of being caught,

• The severity of the administrative sanction (traffic ticket),

• And the accounts of the action they will violate. The concrete outcomes of road user behaviours emerging as compliance to and deviation against traffic rules are schematically as follows and it is considered significant in ensuring the compliance behaviour, and the explanation of potential concrete outcomes to emerge in case of deviating from the rule:

Figure: The Compliance to and Deviation from Traffic Rules Behaviours and Their Outcomes

Resource: This table was created with the schematization of the information explained.

According to the approach basing the conceptual frame of traffic controls on the “deterrence theory” of criminology and “learning theory” of psychology; the deterrence theory explains the impact of penalty or of avoiding penalty to prevent illegal behaviours, while the social learning theory of psychology tries to explain the deterrence effect and psychological processes behind it.

 3. TRAFFIC POLICE CONTROL STRATEGIES AS PART OF THE SAFE SYSTEM APPROACH

Traffic controls aim to eliminate the causes of traffic accidents through rectifying the human behaviours identified to be faulty. The quality of the administrative sanction applied against faulty behaviours identified as a result of traffic controls is an element of sanction being a part of the adult learning process. The expected benefit pyramid is as follows in case the traffic police control strategies:

  • are supported with environmental elements on road structure and road,
  • the safety of the vehicles is increased,
  • the behaviour to comply with the traffic rules is taught and supported with training and campaigns,
  • and the strategies are conducted concurrently with the development of post-accident multi-intervention approaches aiming at preventing the loss of lives of victims based on scientific principles:

Figure: Positive Outcomes of Other Traffic Safety Elements and Supported Traffic Police Controls

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.

The instantaneous speed control is limited with the range the camera sees. The halo effect of instantaneous speed cameras continues 100 meters before the camera and around 100 meters after passing the camera, and the halo effect of the distance of instantaneous speed control systems is more limited when compared with the controls performed with average speed corridors.173

Another matter to bear in mind related to instantaneous speed detection systems is the violative behaviour referred to as the “Kangaroo Effect” displayed after passing the control area. In Kangaroo effect behaviour; the drivers overspeed intending to make up for the time they think they will lose or have lost due to the instantaneous speed control system, which causes accidents resulting from overspeeding before and frequently after the spot where the violation system is positioned. Therefore, the average speed systems rather than instantaneous speed systems are recommended in the reports of international organizations.174

Within the scope of the advancement in technology, the “Traffic Controls with In-Vehicle (in-car) Systems” have been possible. These systems are technological practices facilitating or increasing the adaptation of driver to the traffic rules. There are tachographs, alcolocks, intelligent speed assistance (ISA) systems, following distance warning systems, seatbelt warning systems, rear-end collision warning systems, adaptable cruise control (ACC) systems amongst in-vehicle intelligent systems. Each of these systems aims at preventing one or more of these risky driver behaviours. These systems, assisting the driver and preventing their involvement in a traffic accident, are systems assisting the driver rather than control. Tachographs and alcolocks are the ones most commonly used in traffic controls and the performance of traffic controls will be possible through more in-vehicle intelligent systems based on technological advancements.

Another field assisting the traffic controls are the practices contributing to the strengthening of the perceived risk of being caught to ensure the imposition of administrative sanction on the road user committing the violation and thus compliance to traffic rules everywhere every time with this method by informing the traffic units of the traffic violations they witness in the order stipulated. The “Voluntary Traffic Inspector” practice accepted175 as the community policing method in some countries is the leading one amongst these practices and the traffic violation detection authority granted to the general service police in Turkey in the recent year after the traffic training is also qualified in this context. It is also necessary to evaluate the effect produced on drivers by “Model Traffic Unit Speedways” positioned in risky road sections and road sections where traffic accidents frequently occurred within the Traffic Safety Implementation Policy Paper dated 2017.

TRAFFIC CONTROL AS PART OF THE SAFE SYSTEM APPROACH

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Including the aims of the strategy, which control methods to resort to, and the quality and quantity of the objectives in the traffic police control strategies, and evaluating the success of each control activity in consideration of data,
  2. Identifying the traffic rules, regulations, signalization, control methods, and fines in line with the international standards,
  3. Performing the traffic police controls primarily for the traffic violations increasing the rate of violence in accidents and the number of accidents to strengthen traffic safety,
  4. Performing effective, consistent, and intensive controls on speed, alcohol, and seatbelt and making control plans persistently by action in line with the “zero tolerance” approach in controls on overspeeding, seatbelt, driving under the influence of alcohol and substance in particular,
  5. Performing the shock controls known to be the control method with the lowest cost and practiced periodically, short-term, and intensively although measured to have limited effect on the behaviours of road users,
  6. Practicing the optional control method ranking number two in terms of effectiveness in areas where accidents happen intensively, and on a certain violative behaviour,
  7. Making efforts on strengthening the perceived risk of being caught through increasing the visibility of available control activities, utilizing assisting equipment, materials, and tactics,
  8. Using more technology in traffic controls to detect traffic violations,
  9. Focusing on increasing the number of controls stepwise to increase the perception of the risk of being caught as the success of the controls performed by traffic police depend on the capacity of road users to make a significant change in their behaviours,
  10. Planning special controls in fields such as the control of foreign plate vehicles, the foreign driver’s licence, new type substances, and aggressive drivers by following up on the developments in the road user behaviours,
  11. Pulling over the driver and stating the violation the driver committed, explaining the negative outcomes of the violation, and imposing administrative sanction in controls performed by traffic police, for it has more effect on the road users,
  12. Measuring to what extent the behaviours of road users changed along with the controls, increasing the number of controls gradually and in a way to change the behaviours of road users permanently as increasing the controls instantaneously will have limited effect,
  13. Making control plans on focusing on another type of violation after ensuring behavioural change in e specific type of violation,
  14. Developing joint control methods with the neighbouring countries enabling transit vehicle pass from Turkey and countries generating large number of tourists, creating binary and multilateral cooperation agreements, joint training and control mechanisms to disable the faulty road user behaviours in other countries in Turkey, introducing the traffic rules in Turkey to foreign road users in the country, making regulations on the mutual imposition of penalties including penalty points along with sharing the violating vehicle and driver information,
  15. Explaining that traffic police controls are performed to ensure the safety of life and property of citizens through proper means to ensure that they are supported by the public to a great extent,
  16. Tractor controls for agricultural areas according to the features of geographical regions, making regional control plans such as winter tire control for regions where winter conditions takes a long time,
  17. Continuing branching out and specialization in traffic units due to the positive aspects of specialist traffic police units exclusively organized such as adopting traffic safety, accumulation of knowledge and professionalization, fulfilling the function of instructiveness, and gaining high-level public relations skills rather than a single police unit maintaining the order and fulfilling traffic duties observed in some countries in ensuring traffic safety,
  18. The matters under the responsibility of other institutions to controlled by relevant institutions in integration of traffic safety by not considering traffic controls as the responsibility of police,
  19. The change of traffic police control methods as part of the advancements in the in-vehicle control technologies (intelligent speed adaptor, GPS systems, etc.) in long-term efforts.

 

 

a. “Traffic Violation-Oriented” Traffic Controls As Part of the Safe System Approach

According to analyses and assessments performed in the field of road traffic safety, ensuring traffic safety depends on the efforts to be made on the road user (human), vehicle, road, and environment factors constituting traffic. Efforts on this objective are focused on in theories developed to ensure traffic safety such as Vision Zero and Safe System Approach.

In this regard, traffic rules, when voluntarily complied with by the person, is considered to be effective even though there is not any potential of being caught or imposed a penalty to ensure that traffic rules are effective in driver behaviours. Hence, there two essential conditions for the recognition of traffic rules voluntarily by road users, especially drivers just like the general conditions influencing the recognition of other rules and regulations in the presence of society:176

  1. The rule must be recognized.
  2. The rule must be applicable.

The rules for which these conditions are not fulfilled cannot be put into practice.

When applying these two essential conditions on traffic rules:

The traffic rules must be primarily recognized by society, the society must accept the causes of traffic restrictions and regulations, what consequences will arise when not complied with to the highest level. The fact that the rule is applicable is the aforesaid rule to be applicable within the frame of humane skills and capacity by road users at any education, knowledge, and culture level in the street. For example, when considering that everyone can participate in traffic as “pedestrians” without any condition, the necessity of the level of applicability of rules established for pedestrians to be appealing to all segments of society comes in sight. The conditions on ensuring that traffic rules are applicable are:177

  1. Effectiveness: The road user should know that the potential they have, to be involved in a traffic accident decreases as long as they comply with the rules. The standard application of traffic rules in each country internationally brings along a positive quality in terms of effectiveness.
  2. Clarity: The traffic rules claimed to be complied by everyone must be clear and understandable. The individual should be able to distinguish under what conditions they have violated this rule.
  3. Comprehensibility: In case of complying with the rule, the compliance of the road user must be comprehensible by other road users looking from an external perspective. For instance, the side turns signal light of the driver complying with the rule on signalling while turning must be visible by other road users. Another aspect of visibility will result in the observation of violation by road users and units responsible for control.
  4. Appeal; Violating traffic rules must be repulsive and complying with rules must be appealing for road users. In other words, when a road user violates the traffic rules, they should not have an advantage over others. For example, if a driver passing the red light takes advantages such as coming up from behind, arriving their office early, and extricating themselves from traffic jams while there are drivers stopping at red lights, they will continue the behaviour of running a red light (disobeying the rule).
  5. Social Acknowledgement; As the traffic rules put into practice in line with the conditions stated above will become social norms after being accepted socially, there will not be any need for more efforts as made in the beginning for the recognition of rules, and the allocation of resources.

With reference to the fact that “Traffic accidents are preventable public health problems and the solution of it is possible with the Safe System Approach”178, scientific efforts are necessary to eliminate all factors causing the human factor the main unit constituting the system to have a traffic accident.

i. Speed Control

The main reason for one-third of the deaths resulting from traffic accidents around the world, excessive or inappropriate speed is the key factor increasing the severity of traffic accidents happening based on other reasons. The solution of speed problem is possible with the road design, engineering measures, use of in-vehicle technologies, and traffic police controls.

It is considered that excessive speed is mainly performed by young and male drivers, and the alcohol, road structure, traffic density, and air conditions are effective in speed selection. Each 1 km/hrs increase in vehicle speed, increases the risk of getting injured by 3%, and the mortality risk by 4-5%. It is considered that decreasing average speed by 5% will ensure the decrease in the number of traffic accidents involving death by 30%.

The most suitable type of control to be performed in road sections where traffic accidents are intensified are the speed controls. The performance of speed controls particularly in road sections where accidents happen is easily accepted by society and besides the speed controls become the key factor in preventing all the other types of violation. According to the analyses of the World Health Organization, handycams, steadicams, and mobile cams are the most frequently used tools in speed controls.179

The highest fining rate per 1000 persons is in the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland related to speed controls. The fining rate per 1000 persons was 558 in the Netherlands, 456 in Austria in 2008, and 335 in Switzerland in 2007. Speeding tickets are fined especially through average speed corridors with electronic control systems in these countries. There was an increase in the number of speeding tickets in Spain after 2006 when the speed cams were installed systematically over state highway network, and the number of speeding tickets per 1000 persons was 295 in 2009.180

When examining the traffic accidents involving death and injuries happening in Turkey in 2019, it is considered that the cause of 40% of these accidents was the “Violation of Speed Rule” and most of them happened as going off the road “as a single vehicle, based on speed and lack of attention”. Within this scope, special controls are planned and performed to decrease the number of traffic accidents happening due to speeding by increasing the effectiveness of controls along with K-3 Radar Speed Controls performed across the country.

SPEED CONTROL

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Considering how and where the accident happened based on the examination of data on traffic density and road in cooperation/coordination with the specialists of the unit responsible for traffic police, road, and road parameter in speed control plans,
  2. Identifying the hotspots on accidents occurring due to speeding,
  3. The speed controls to firstly focus on roads, places, and times when the traffic accidents originating from speed occur frequently,
  4. Including the objectives, success criteria, and methods of the controls to be successful in the speed controls,
  5. Enforcing 30 km/hrs limit in areas where residences and vulnerable road users are densely located, and making decelerator physical regulations,
  6. The organization responsible for the construction, maintenance and repair of the road to perform the controls of space of controls enabling the traffic police to perform controls in accident black spots, especially road sections with intensive speed-related accidents,
  7. As the contribution of the point speed measurement approach known as instantaneous speed is limited, performing speed controls by abandoning this approach and building average speed corridors in areas with frequent accidents,
  8. Performing speed controls by building average speed corridors in road sections where accidents involving death resulting from speeding happen and including accident black spots,
  9. Performing speed controls by building average speed corridors to prevent speed-related traffic accidents in road sections in which the summer and winter tourism is intensive and the vehicle traffic shows a seasonal increase despite not being located over main arterial roads,
  10. Performing the speed controls uninterruptedly by building average speed corridors in intracity and upstate roads where there are accident black spots, especially the intercity main axles where the freight and passenger transportation is intensively performed to begin with in all speedways and state roads,
  11. The institution or organization responsible for the construction and maintenance of the road in point road sections where speed-related traffic accidents are intensive to perform the infrastructure improvements and protective environment regulations, and the traffic police to perform speed controls with mobile radar to change the road user behaviours in the same place and ensure adaptation to speed limits,
  12. Increasing the visibility of speed controls performed with the radar devices installed on traffic unit vehicles and unpredictability levels in the entire route of responsibility
  13. Making use of the preventiveness qualification of the traffic police vehicle speed control method performed by being positioned on the road, having the vehicle present over the road in control mode before the control is performed,
  14. Increasing the perceived and realized the risk of being caught along with the speed controls performed at night,
  15. Forming the impression that the speed control is performed by the traffic police every time and everywhere on drivers with the en-route speed controls performed with the official and civil police vehicle in all road networks,
  16. Announcing the speed controls performed on routes through media tools, preventing accidents by creating the perception that the control is performed even when it is not,
  17. Increasing the perceived risk of being caught on drivers with the model speed cams in road sections where it is not possible to position a traffic police unit vehicle with examples in leading countries in terms of traffic safety,
  18. Ensuring that all vehicles in the route obey the speed limits by relocating the model speed cams,
  19. Increasing the effectiveness of control activities using satellite/space interactive devices,
  20. Activating the use of digital tachograph device for the efficiency of speed controls,
  21. Improving the effectiveness and available capacity of the legislation on the working and relaxation hours (tachographs) of drivers to perform roadside controls for the implementation of the legislation,
  22. Applying deceleration measures as low-cost with perceptual measures (three-dimensional pedestrian crossing drawing, zigzag lane lines, etc.)
  23. Necessitating the speed limiting systems as standard equipment in all new vehicles,
  24. Control of obligations on attaching plates pertinent to standards to control the speeds of two/three-wheeler vehicles,
  25. Increasing the sanctions based on violations related to speeding deterrently,
  26. Organizing alternatives such as the warning letter and compulsory training along with the penalty in speed violations,
  27. Imposing sanctions on speed limits in a way not to allow objection and hesitation in terms of penalty and method, shortening and accelerating the judicial process in case of an objection,
  28. Temporarily disqualification of driver’s license in case of repeated violation of not obeying speed limits,
  29. Applying the penalty point system for drivers committing repeated speed violations exponentially,
  30. Evaluating and reporting the changes in speed behaviours of road users three times a year,
  31. Making projective efforts for the purchase of new generation speed measurement device.

 

ii. Alcohol Control

Another type of violation with a high hazard is driving under the influence of alcohol despite not being as common as other traffic violations. According to the studies, 25% of the total number of deaths due to traffic accidents of EU member states are alcohol-related. The number of alcohol controls on driving under the influence of alcohol in the most active countries – Estonia, Poland, and Finland – were 677, 466, and 279 respectively per a population of 1000. The controls were also extensive in Austria and the number of alcohol controls per a population of 1000 was 180, and 156 in Slovenia. The percentage of being subjected to alcohol control within a population of 1000 is below 100 on a yearly basis in Romania and Lithuania being the countries with the lowest percentages.181

There are different methods adopted in different countries within the context of alcohol control;182

  • Subjecting All Drivers Involved in the Accident to Alcohol Test: All drivers involved in the accident are subjected to alcohol test regardless of their defective fraction.
  • Optional Alcohol Control: Subjecting drivers whose suspicious behaviours are observed in the flowing traffic pulled over or performing alcohol controls by subjecting drivers leaving restaurants, bars, and discos offering alcohol to their customers to alcohol tests.
  • Drill Alcohol Control: The alcohol controls performed by pulling over randomly or every fifth or tenth driver approaching the control point.
  • Systematic Alcohol Control: Pulling over and subjecting all drivers in the area to a breath test by determining a specific geographical area. Similarly, it is also performed by pulling over and subjecting all drivers approaching control point to the breath test.

In efforts made by the World Health Organization on driving under the influence of alcohol, it is recommended to:183

  • designate the alcohol limits by-laws,
  • accept the key control criterion in driving under the influence of alcohol as the amount/concentration of alcohol in the blood (BAC184 or the amount/concentration of alcohol in breath (BrAC)185, and follow up the standards in all traffic safety elements through a single value,
  • determine the amount/concentration of alcohol in blood limit as ≤ 0.05 gr/ dl for general drivers, the amount/concentration of alcohol in blood limit ≤ 0.02 gr/dl for young/inexperienced and professional drivers.

The drivers are subjected to alcohol control under the “Technical devices are utilized by the traffic officers to identify whether any narcotics or psychotropic substance was used or the amount of alcohol in blood” decree of Article 48 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918.

Special controls are planned and performed to increase the effectiveness of controls along with the K-5 Alcohol Controls performed across the country to direct drivers to drive in line with the traffic rules, prohibitions, and restrictions on ensuring traffic safety, prevent traffic accidents originating from driving under the influence of alcohol and minimize the loss of life and property as a result of accidents.

If the alcohol rates of drivers are over the limits specified in Article 48 of the Road Traffic Law after being identified with the Breathalyser Device, the criminal action specified in the same article is taken. Currently, technical devices that can give the serial number of and the printout of calibration status of the device with the date, time, and result of measurement in the identification of alcohol rates of drivers. A sufficient number of breathalysers are purchased for traffic units and extensive control activities are performed.

ALCOHOL CONTROL

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Reinforcing the stand that the traffic is retained under control by raising the level of perception on the fact that drivers driving vehicles under the influence of alcohol are caught with the alcohol controls performed by traffic officers,
  2. Targeting areas where accidents originating from alcohol happen extensively in controls and increasing the perceived risk of being caught,
  3. The extensive application of breath tests consistently and without as the most effective method distinguishing amongst drivers (randomly) for the fight against the behaviour of driving under the influence of alcohol,
  4. Preparing the controls plans in which annual goals are set on driving under the influence of alcohol,
  5. Selecting the hours, days, and places when and where the number of intoxicated drivers on roads are high in alcohol controls to use the resource productively,
  6. Subjecting all drivers passing the control point along a certain time of control to breath test along with the alcohol controls performed as drilling,
  7. Performing the alcohol controls with long-termed, constant intensity, and combined methods (supporting with training and information),
  8. Performing the alcohol controls with the rotation (relocation) method as high visibility and in pre-determined fixed points, and not keeping the practice in control points longer than two hours to be able to exert dominance in more areas,
  9. Performing alcohol controls in control points organized for other purposes other than traffic control to increase the perceived risk of being caught,
  10. Performing the alcohol control by pulling over vehicles en route in cases where there is not enough staff and team members to organize the control point to perform alcohol control,
  11. Making effective control plans with the joint participation of other units other than traffic in points to be pre-determined between 22.00-03.00,
  12. Providing training for the traffic officers participating in the controls to ensure that the alcohol controls are successful and making evaluations to give feedback on the results of the controls,
  13. Demonstrating the identification methods (the vehicle getting out the lane or cannot be held within the lane, lisping, and alcohol smell, etc.) of drivers driving under the influence of alcohol in the traffic police trainings,
  14. Subjecting the entire police officers to training on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and the manner of approaching to a driver encountered in this case for a complete fight against driving under the influence of alcohol,
  15. Temporary disqualification of driver’s license to make the alcohol control deterrent or continuing the combined sanctions on its decertification,
  16. Continuing the immediate decertification procedure of the driver’s license to sustain the preventive aspect of the penalty due to the abruptness and certainty of it along with the identification of driving under the influence of alcohol,
  17. Imposing administrative sanctions to the vehicle owners who let other people drive their vehicle under the influence of alcohol as it is also their responsibility,
  18. Standardizing the technical requirements of alcolocks by making legislative regulations for the use of alcolocks, and ensuring their use in all commercial vehicles mandatorily in the short term,
  19. The use of in-vehicle mounted alcolocks for drivers driving under the influence of alcohol,
  20. Necessitating the alcolocks for vulnerable driver groups such as bus drivers, fleet drivers, and school service drivers,
  21. Continuing the calibration and maintenance of breathalysers with the same precision,
  22. Activating the passive alcohol control devices (alcolocks) to increase the effectiveness of alcohol controls,
  23. Performing alcohol controls systematically in all police controls within the bounds of possibility to shape the behaviours of drivers,
  24. Continuing the identification of alcohol levels in the blood of drivers losing their lives in accidents involving death uninterruptedly,
  25. Making training and information efforts to remind the drivers planning on leaving the entities offering alcohol of the fact that they should not drive under the influence of alcohol along with the alcohol control strategies,
  26. Setting annual goals on a certain part of the total number of drivers related to driving under the influence of alcohol and ensuring the control of at least 1 out of 5 drivers each year,
  27. Conducting campaigns at national level to inform the society on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol,
  28. Requiring the participation of drivers committing the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol repeatedly to rehabilitation programmes and following these programmes strictly,
  29. Gathering and analysing the data on the intoxicated drivers involved in accidents involving death with controls and evaluations performed on intoxicated drivers in quarterly periods,
 

iii. Narcotic and Psychotropic Substance Control

The definition of driving a vehicle under the influence of narcotic/psychotropic substance changing by countries is generally described as the identification of substance or more than a certain proportion of these substances causing or that may cause a measurable decrease in the cognition, psychomotor skills, or urges of persons in the laws of countries.

The narcotic substance that the most frequently encountered in traffic controls is marijuana, and the psychoactive drug is benzodiazepine group drugs. One can see from the tests performed over drivers being involved in accidents that the intake of illegal substances or aforesaid prescribed drugs are generally found to be more common with alcohol.186

Although the evidence behind drug intake can be identified from different biological samples such as blood, urine, saliva, sweat, and even hair, the saliva is preferred in terms of convenience in en route/roadside controls. The effect rate in some drugs such as amphetamine does not depend on dosage and the tolerance levels of persons have a different effect when taken with alcohol or other narcotics, while the performance reduction effect of some narcotics including marijuana and opioids depends on the dosage.

Psychoactive drugs such as opioids, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and antihistamines occasionally show a substantial effect on the skills of drivers, and the efforts made show that the drivers can use these drugs by exploiting them due to medical reasons or in various manners.187

Along with the amendment made on Article 48 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 on 24 May 2013, the control method with technical devices was put into practice in the form that “Technical devices are used by the officers to identify whether narcotic or psychotropic substances were used or the amount of alcohol in the blood. The minimum conditions for the technical devices to be used for the identification of alcohol, narcotic and psychotropic substances to have, and other rules and procedures are stated in the regulation”.

The sanctions on the prohibition of driving a vehicle under the influence of narcotic/psychotropic substances were regulated in Article 48 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, and the rules and procedures of processes on the identification whether the drivers used narcotic or psychotropic substances by traffic officers in Article 97 of the Road Traffic Regulation.

As such, based on the support and contribution the traffic officers being present in the field on a 24/7 basis will provide, controls are performed on drivers suspected to have used narcotic or psychotropic substances from their attitudes and behaviours in the fight against this problem and identifying responsible persons as well as ensuring traffic safety on the fight of the Ministry of Interior against the use of narcotic drugs being a social problem for the enforcement of the law.

The drivers with positive results in the pre-tests performed in controls are delivered to the general traffic units and dispatched to the closest health care institutions and are verified through taking a blood sample.

The efforts were started as of 2013 to add the narcotic test device to perform the proactive substance (narcotic/psychotropic/narcos) preview scan from the oral fluid to be taken to prevent driving under the influence of psychotropic substances and meet the condition of ensuring traffic safety.

Taking into consideration the provinces with Forensic Medicine Institution, pilot practices were performed with the narcotic test device in Ankara, İstanbul, and İzmir. Under the coordinatorship of the Directorate General of Security;

The threshold values were identified in 19.01.2016 as a result of the meetings started to be organized in 2015 with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, General Commandership of Gendarmerie, and Universities.

20 devices and 6000 kits were purchased in 2016 with the preparation of technical specification, and the controls were launched by distributing these devices and kits to a total of 10 provinces - Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Malatya, and Trabzon – where there is a Forensic Medicine Institutions.

20 devices and 5000 kits were purchased in 2018, and the number of provinces where the controls were performed was increased to 16 by distributing the devices and kits to Erzurum, Mersin, Kayseri, Konya, Samsun, and Şanlıurfa provinces in addition to the 10 provinces where the controls were performed.

NARCOTIC AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCE CON-TROL

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE:

Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Drug Con-trols within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Preparing control plans in which yearly goals are set on driving under the influence of narcotic substances,
  2. The common performance of blood/urine/saliva tests to include other psychoactive drugs as part of the “Zero Tolerance” approach in driving under the influence of illegal narcotic/psychotropic substances,
  3. Provision of Narcotic Test Devices and Kits in provinces, promoting the controls for bus drivers in terminal destinations,
  4. Identifying which drugs have a negative effect on drivers, making efforts on clearly specifying that they affect one’s driving skills when used, and controlling the effect of drug use on driving skill,188
  5. Taking into consideration that performing drug tests is not as easy as performing breath tests, it is not possible to identify all narcotic substances in tests performed with saliva in points with extensive controls, and that it is not possible to use the urine/blood test methods in control points despite getting clearer results with them, and developing new measures in this context,
  6. Performing the narcotic controls uninterruptedly in control points with sufficient equipment and test kits throughout the year, especially the summer seasons when the use of narcotic substances increases and the times when there are activities such as concerts, sports competitions, and festivals,
  7. Extending the available authorities of traffic police fighting against driving under the influence of narcotic drugs in case the driver does not want to be tested along with clear and understandable regulations,
  8. Providing necessary trainings to the officers on the use of drug test device and kits in drug controls,
  9. Providing training for the staff assigned in the fight against drugs constantly in traffic safety and updating the drug test devices according to technological advancements,
  10. Subjecting the officers assigned in pulling over the vehicles in these trainings to be able to understand whether the drivers used narcotic drugs from their attitudes and behaviours,
  11. Preferring the use of devices with the easiest measurement, the most reliable, and giving results within the shortest time, and test kits with long expiration date.

iv. Seatbelt Control

It is estimated that the percentage of wearing a seatbelt is 90% in the front seat and 71% in the rear seat although the use of seatbelt is mandatory in all European Union member states. According to the evaluations of ETSC, it is considered that 900 loss of lives resulting from traffic accidents could have been prevented until today if the percentage of wearing a seatbelt had been around 99% in 2012 when the availability of seatbelt warning system was made obligatory in European Union member states.

According to the “Turkey Analysis of Seatbelt Use of Driver and Front Seat Passengers; Follow-up Study” dated 2016, prepared in cooperation with the DGS Traffic Presidency and Middle East Technical University (METU), 50,1% of drivers and 40.6% of the passengers in the front seat use their seatbelts across Turkey. The intracity percentages are respectively 42.4% and 31%. The same percentages were identified to be respectively 61.5% and 52.2% in the upstate.

It is considered that the percentage of the use of seatbelt in the front seat is 98% in the front seat in Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Estonia, 61% in Croatia, 62% in Italy, 74% in Serbia, and 83% in Latvia and Hungary. The difference in the use of seatbelts in the rear seat is more between countries. It is 1% in Croatia, while 98% in Germany and the Czech Republic. The percentage of wearing a seatbelt in the rear seat is 7% in Serbia, 15% in Italy, and 33% in Latvia. Although the percentage of the use of seatbelt in rear seat increases, deaths due to traffic accidents are at a high level in the EU countries, for the seatbelt controls are not priority controls in these countries. In some countries, there is an approach that not wearing a seatbelt is a small mistake, it does not require the imposition of a penalty, and can merely be associated with penalty points.189

The seatbelt controls need to be performed with effective training activities and promotion campaigns and be well-promoted. The controls should be performed in intensive periods at least three times a year and each period should last at least 2 weeks. In road sections where accidents frequently occur, the seatbelt controls should be combinedly performed with other controls regardless of the main cause of the accident.190

Scientific studies conducted reveal that the use of seatbelts decreased the number of loss of lives in post-accident vehicles by 45% and serious injuries by 55%. According to researches conducted in the international arena, while only 12 out of each 1000 persons wearing seatbelt lost their lives on site of the accident, 62% of the ones who did not wear lost their lives, and the mortality risk reduced by 45% when wearing a seatbelt.191

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.

The drivers and passengers in all vehicles except for the drivers and passengers in M2 and M3 category Class A and Class I buses (intracity public transportation vehicles) carrying passengers on foot and ones providing on foot services in ambulances have the obligation to wear a seatbelt. Accordingly, fixed and reported special controls are planned and performed to increase the effectiveness of controls along with the K-6 Seatbelt Controls across the country.

SEATBELT CONTROL

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Performing the seatbelt control programmes commonly,
  2. Performing periodical and high-intensity seatbelt controls,
  3. In the use of seatbelts, performing controls through the Electronic Control Systems to increase the perceived risk of being caught,
  4. Diversifying and imposing administrative sanctions in cases where the seatbelts are not fastened, decertifying the driver’s licenses of drivers identified to have not used their seatbelts three times in a year and increasing the amount of penalty every time in this context,
  5. Performing the control on the use of seatbelts in the front and rear seats of each vehicle pulled over to control the other traffic rules in control points as the easiest and free control method,
  6. Performing the seatbelt controls over many vehicles with the drilling method as a special control,
  7. Providing trainings to the staff participating in the seatbelt performance monitoring on the benefits of these controls in advance,
  8. Performing effective and extensive in-depth seatbelt controls of 1-4 weeks, supported by campaigns at least twice a year along with the controls as part of the international best practice examples on the use of seatbelts based on the European Commission recommendations dated 2004,
  9. Supporting the seatbelt controls with high-level promotion activities and programmes and announcing the results of the controls to the public,
  10. Ensuring the availability of in-vehicle seatbelt warning systems in vehicles, producing the seatbelt warning labels attached to the front console in a way to attract the attention of people, and delivering them to the public with active promotion campaigns,
  11. Designing a common seatbelt logo in all official correspondences for a year and ensuring that it is used,
  12. Sending occasional information messages to the citizens on the benefits of the use of seatbelts,
  13. Providing necessary information on the importance of the use of seatbelt in social media, printed and visual media,
  14. Providing information and conducting campaigns on the importance of the use of seatbelts at national level,
  15. Evaluating the child protection equipment and seatbelt use percentages in different road classes and road user categories on a yearly basis,
  16. Developing systems to ensure that the vehicle will protect itself in case the vehicle is started without fastening the seatbelt or the seatbelt is unfastened while driving in recently produced vehicle along with the advancement of today’s technology.

 

v. Head Guard Control

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.

 

vi. Child Protection System Control

The lack of use of in-vehicle child protection systems, seatbelt, child seat, and child elevating apparatus increases the mortality risk.

In general, anterior head injuries are experienced as a consequence of not using this equipment. In regulations on child protective apparatus;194,195

  • The national child protective apparatus regulations must be based on the ages-weights-heights or the combination of these factors.
  • The regulations on letting the children under a specific age or height sit the front seat must be reviewed.
  • Child protection apparatus are protective equipment used with a seatbelt or instead of seatbelts for children under a certain age inside the car and children under a certain height and weight. Scientific studies show that infants and children are exposed to more risks in collisions because of their bodily structure and weights. Therefore, additional measures for infants and children were made obligatory in many countries.
  • The child protection apparatus and public opinion efforts on the use of seatbelt will have serious contributions.
  • The use of child protection systems prevents the mortality of infants (younger than 4) by 80% and the children (between the ages of 8-12) by 70%.
  • The child protection apparatus uses the same mechanism systems with the seatbelts of adults.
  • It is necessary to use the child protection systems and rear-facing baby seats for infants and front-facing seats for older children, and elevating seats for older ones to ensure that they can reach the seatbelt - according to the age, height, and weight of the children.
  • Efforts to prevent the infant from getting harmed as a result of the airbag of the rear-facing baby seat set up in the front seat deploying are made.
  • Mistakes are made in the use of both the adult and child protection systems due to their available use, and these mistakes weaken the protective feature of the relevant protective apparatus.

The Article 150 of the Road Traffic Regulation states that children under the age of 3 cannot be carried in M1, M1G, N1, N1G, N2, and N3 class vehicles, imposes an obligation that systems pertinent to the weight of children must be used while carrying children below 150 cm and 36 kgs, and ensures that children longer than 135 cm can use the seatbelts in other seats providing that they do not sit in the front seat instead of child fastening systems.

Sanctions stipulated by the legislation are imposed to drivers identified not to use the child fastening systems in the fixed controls performed across the country, besides, special controls in this respect are planned and performed.

CONTROL OF CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEMS

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Requiring the transportation of children up to 4 years old in the rear-facing child seat according to the Directive No. EC/661/2009,
  2. Subjecting the child protection apparatus to control with the seatbelts,
  3. Preventing the transportation of children under a certain age or height in the front seat,
  4. Providing training for the police officers assigned in controls and the drivers along with the control and other road users on the benefits of child protection systems, and the proper use of these equipment,
  5. Identifying the best practices in child seat controls and informing the staff in the position of a traffic controller.

 

vii. The Control of Cell Phones and Other Elements Distracting the Driver

All elements distracting the driver show a gradual increase in traffic safety problems. It is considered that 10-30% of the accidents happen due to distracting elements despite the lack of data. According to studies, the drivers using cell phones have four times more potential to be involved in an accident when compared with the ones not using. Using a cell phone is an increasing problem amongst distracting elements.

The research conducted shows that a vehicle moving with 110 km/hrs covers a distance of;

  • 31 meters normally,
  • 39 meters if the person talks to someone on the phone with a headset,
  • and 45 meters per second if the person holds the phone in their hand while on the phone when the person perceives the risk and steps on the brakes when they need to stop at once.

The potential to decrease the number of accidents is quite high in case the promotion of traffic controls on the use of cell phone is performed sufficiently. Recently, it is considered that the use of cell phone, being an effective risk factor in the happening of accidents as a distracting element;196

  • extended the reaction time of the driver (especially weakened their perception on applying the brakes),
  • complicated lane keeping,
  • and shortened the following distance.
  • On the other hand, writing or reading a message on the cell phone are considered to be a greater risk element.

The drivers ascertained to use cell phones are taken criminal action against in all controls performed on roadsides and en route and relevant special controls are planned and performed across the country.

 

CELL PHONE CONTROL

STRATEGIC PURPOSE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Cell Phone Controls within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Making regulations on preventing the factors such as cell phone distracting and decreasing the focus of the driver to the road and road parameter, albeit for a very short time,
  2. Making regulations on eliminating the negative effect of using cell phone including handsfree mode,
  3. Performing notified and special controls through electronic control systems and air platforms,
  4. Treating the effect of cell phones and other electronic devices on driving safety with examples in trainings and campaigns, and making efforts on raising social awareness,

viii. Red Light Control

Traffic lights are systems used to put the actions of road users moving in different directions in order without experiencing negativity and have been an integral part of intracity transportation by shaping in within the scope of the technical and technological advancements of the 19th century.197

The control of traffic lights and especially the compliance to red lights being of vital importance in the regulation of vehicle traffic in intersections and intersecting road sections is extremely important in terms of traffic safety, especially pedestrian safety. It is observed that the camera systems are recently used to a great extent in camera traffic light controls in countries making progress in terms of traffic safety and the red light controls performed through the electronic control systems have been identified to be effective by 25% to 30% in decreasing the percentage of traffic accidents involving injuries.198 When examining the accidents happening in the city, the majority of them are observed to have happened in intersections. Therefore, the right of way and the obligation to comply with the traffic lights and signs are important.

Within this framework, notified special controls are planned and performed in intersections without ECS to reduce the number of speed-related accidents by increasing the effectiveness of controls along with the K-7 Traffic Lights and Signs Violation Controls performed across the country.

RED LIGHT CONTROL

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Red-Light Controls within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Generating the necessary solutions as a result of being jointly evaluated by the unit responsible for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the road and the traffic accident investigation specialists as part of the way the accident happened and the behaviours of road users in all intracity intersections with heavy traffic volume and intersections where accidents mainly happened,
  2. Examining and rearranging the intersection designs causing the uncontrolled encounter of vehicles in intersections,
  3. Prioritizing the construction of roundabouts in areas where the traffic moving from different directions intersect rather than signalized intersections and building a common intersection field in fit intersections,
  4. Examining the durations of green and red lights in intersections, the volume of traffic in intersection sides, the potential the vehicles have to come across vehicles from the oncoming traffic in right and left turns, and inspecting the available traffic lights, signs, and sign boards,
  5. Selecting the intersections where traffic accidents mainly happen as a result of red light violations as priority control field,
  6. Planning the red light controls to eliminate the behaviour of running a red light intentionally in signalized intersections and ensure change in the road user behaviours, besides, making efforts to measure the road user behaviours before and after the control,
  7. Including the red light controls to special control plans with reference to the fact that the most effective method with red light violation is the notified (optional) control method,
  8. Concentrating on controls through electronic control systems and air platforms (helicopter, drone) due to their high percentage of violation detection, deterrence, and giving no room for error,
  9. Using the mobile camera recorders to be installed on intersections to put into practice the “Unpredictability of Controls” principal as well as fixed systems in red light controls,
  10. Using the models of mobile and fixed camera recorders in the same colour, type, and size with the real one to increase the risk of being caught.
  11. Performing control strategies with high visibility and supported by public information efforts.

 

ix. Controls to Protect the Pedestrians and Other Vulnerable Road Users

Walking has positive effects in several other fields such as protecting the environment as well as contributing to the physical health conditions of people, however, socio-economic harms happen due to traffic accidents causing loss of life of pedestrians as well. Furthermore, the motorcycles are increasingly used due to such reasons as being more affordable, to move more comfortably in heavy traffic, and not causing any parking problem today and the use of bicycle becomes gradually popular due to such reasons as strengthening physical condition and being free in addition to other similar reasons.

As such, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders are considered to be under more risk in terms of traffic safety, and the persons within this group are referred to as the “Vulnerable Road Users”. It is also in question to take children, elderly people, and persons with disabilities under review amongst pedestrians.

According to efforts made by the World Health Organization, pedestrians constitute 22% of all traffic accident deaths and in general, it is estimated that adult males lose their lives in pedestrian accidents and the pedestrian accidents mostly happen at night. Pedestrian accidents are indicated to happen in urban areas in countries with high economic level and rural areas in countries with low economic level.199

More than half of all road traffic deaths consist of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders referred to as the vulnerable road users without any serious safety measure against motor vehicles.

  • 26% of pedestrians and bicyclists,
  • 28% of two or three-wheeled motor vehicle riders,
  • And 29% of passengers inside a motor vehicle constitute the persons losing their lives in traffic accidents.200

Almost half of the persons losing their lives in the roads of the world are “vulnerable road users” consisting of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders. Motorcycle riders are the ones having the highest risk amongst vulnerable road users and their risk is 20 times more than the persons inside a vehicle. Bicyclists and pedestrians Cyclists and pedestrians carry 7 to 9 times more risk when compared with the persons inside a vehicle.201

In efforts made to protect the vulnerable road users, the following are the fields recommended performing target-oriented controls in particular;

  • Excessive and disorderly speed,
  • Driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotic/psychotropic substance,
  • Cell phones and other distracting factors,
  • Not wearing the seatbelt,
  • Not using the child protection apparatus,
  • Not wearing head guard while riding motorcycles,
  • And driving while exhausted and restless.

An amendment was made in Article 74 of the Law No. 2918 with the Law on Making Amendments on Some Laws with the Road Traffic Law No. 7148 adopted being published in the Official Gazette dated 26.10.2018 and No. 30577. Hereunder, the Article 74 of the Law No. 2918 titled “Giving the Right of Way to Pedestrians” was regulated as “The drivers are obliged to slow down and give the right of way to pedestrians by stopping while approaching to intersection entrances and exits and pedestrian and school crossings without an assigned officer or lighted traffic sign yet identified with lighted traffic signs or signboards by checking if any pedestrians are crossing or about to cross these places. Drivers not following the provisions of this article are imposed 488 Turkish Liras administrative fine.”.

Accordingly, the regulation above is taken into consideration in determining the faultiness in traffic accidents the pedestrians are involved with the arrangement and regulation of traffic in intersection entrance and exits, and pedestrian and school crossings without an assigned officer or lighted traffic sign yet identified with traffic signs or signboards. Controls on pedestrian and school crossings and giving the right of way to pedestrians are planned and performed at certain periods by the traffic units in provinces.

CONTROLS TO PROTECT PEDESTRIANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE ROAD USERS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls To Protect Pedestrians in line with the Pedestrian Priority Traffic Approach within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Determining the minimum safety criteria to ensure the safety of vulnerable road users through practices such as Sustainable Intracity Mobility Plans,
  2. Ensuring the implementation of the Road Infrastructure Management directive (2008/96/EC) partially or completely for all roads funded by the EU and the main roads in urban and rural areas,
  3. Identifying the maximum speed in areas where the pedestrians and bicyclists are dense or expected to be dense due to infrastructure investments and residential areas as 30 km/hrs,
  4. Identifying the EuroVelo network as part of TEN-T,
  5. Maintaining the specification on pedal motor bicycles with 25 km/hrs production speed whose maximum continuous production power can reach up to 250 W in the legislation,
  6. Allocating sufficient resources to increase the safety of all two-wheeler vehicle drivers and bicyclists accepted as vulnerable road users,
  7. Improving the features of head guards designed for bicycles to ensure safety at a higher level,
  8. Encouraging users to wear head guards causing people to abandon the habit of using the bicycle,
  9. Performing target-oriented speed controls in urban areas with a large number of pedestrians and bicyclists,
  10. Periodically controlling the traffic violations on the right of way of pedestrians in intersection entrances and exits without a traffic light and pedestrian and school crossings, and conducting information and awareness-raising campaigns to ensure that the Pedestrian Priority in Traffic is adopted by drivers,
  11. Barricading the illegal dangerous passages built by citizens and used for pedestrian/vehicle passage with physical measures,
  12. Launching and following the “Safe Traffic City” practice,
  13. Setting concrete goals to decrease the vulnerable road user mortality rate.

x. Control of Aggressive Driver Behaviours (such as Tailgate, Drift, Improperly Passing the Vehicle in Front, and Behaviours Endangering the Traffic)

Traffic accidents presenting a threat to traffic safety are an interdisciplinary problem and require the same interdisciplinary and well-coordinated efforts to prevent them. The disorganization of traffic safety resulting from traffic accidents has three main actors, which are: human, vehicle, and environment. Traffic accidents with severe outcomes happen especially due to human-driven errors.

Human behaviours known as unsafe human behaviours and their results negatively maintain their place within the subjects of study of science. Persons committing traffic violation show a deviation behaviour, neglect norms, and try to achieve the goal they set with a method prohibited by legislation in the context of criminal sociology.202

Such driver behaviours are considered within the “Aggressive Driver Behaviours” category by the UNECE. Aggressive driver behaviours are identified as “A driver driving the vehicle in a way that puts their or other drivers’ life at risk on purpose due to impatience, distress, hostility, or hurry”.203

Aggressive driver behaviours such as tailgate, drift, and improperly passing the vehicle in front, endangering actions have an important place amongst the traffic violations committed by drivers. According to certain studies, the en-route control system was determined to be more effective in accommodating the driver behaviours to rules, as the number of drivers in the presence of official police cars will be higher in the control method performed in action. According to experimental studies, the following conclusions were made;204

  • The visibility of the police formed the deceleration behaviour in 95% of the drivers,
  • The drivers seeing the police car put on the brakes regardless of whether they are fixed or on the move,
  • The halo effect continued longer in en-route control when compared with fixed control,
  • And that the driver behaviours are associated with the perceived risk of being caught.

As is also understood from the research results, en route control is more effective when intended to accommodate the behaviours of drivers moving along a long route.

It is possible to form a general deterrence or specific deterrence along with the control of behaviours such as tailgate, drift, and improperly passing the vehicle in front, etc. endangering actions. For example, performing high-visibility controls in the same place will enable the drivers to avoid committing violations only in these specific areas.

The use of high-visibility and planned traffic police patrols with systems such as radar strengthens the perception on road users that controls can be performed anywhere at any time. Being unable to estimate where and when the controls will be performed will produce a more deterrent effect and encourage the drivers to always act in accordance with the traffic rules wherever they are.205

Amendments were made in Article 46 and 67 of the Law No. 2918 with the Law on Making Amendments in Some Laws with the Road Traffic Law No. 7148 put into practice being published in the Official Gazette dated 26.10.2018 and No. 30577. With this amendment, the sanction imposed on vehicles and drivers endangering the traffic by drifting and changing lanes rapidly (weaving in and out of traffic) in traffic.

The control units were informed to carry out the necessary procedures by identifying the persons and vehicles endangering the traffic by violating the traffic rules with negative actions through media organs to effectively struggle the drivers displaying negative and dangerous behaviours to endanger traffic safety by not following the traffic rules, ensure the safety of life and property, and traffic safety, and prevent the public authority from being debilitated.

As such, judicial proceedings are initiated under the (Persons conducting road, maritime, airway or railroad vehicles in a way to endanger the life, health, or property of persons are sentenced to imprisonment up to two years) decree of the second clause of Article 179 of the Turkish Criminal Law No. 5237 by taking criminal action against from the relevant articles of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 and being referred to the hospital to identify whether the mental health of the driver is in a good state in case the vehicle/driver is identified as a result of research by reviewing the news in written and visual media on the use of a vehicle to endanger the traffic safety.

CONTROLS ON AGGRESSIVE DRIVER BEHAVIOURS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Aggressive Driver Behaviour Controls within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

1. Making necessary efforts on the drivers repeatedly displaying the behaviours included in the scope of aggressive driving:

i. To be deprived of their driver’s license temporarily,

ii. To be subjected to psychotechnics examination,

iii. To be subjected to driver training again,

2. Using the electronic control systems and other technological means, air platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles/drone systems to identify aggressive driver behaviours,

3. Imposing the administrative sanction to drivers by pulling them over by controlling the behaviours such as tailgating, drifting, improperly passing the vehicle in front, and other actions endangering the traffic as aggressive driver behaviours on the move or fixed with the official and civil traffic units,

4. Making efforts on increasing the traffic violation notifications to identify aggressive driving in places and moments when the traffic police or other control methods are not available,

5. Increasing the use of in-vehicle record systems to identify and punish aggressive driving.

xi. Tiredness and Restlessness Control

This type of control discussed under the “Competence and Suitability to Driving Inspection” retains under control the effect of factors such as illness, tiredness, restlessness, or inattentiveness on driving safely in traffic especially in elderly drivers and drivers transporting freight and passenger commercially.

The research conducted reveals that driving inattentively and reasons such as tiredness are risky in terms of traffic safety as much as the narcotic, psychotropic substances, narcotics and psychoactive substances, cell phones and other electronic devices causing visual distractions in the road environment.

According to reports prepared by the European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO);206the lack of a regular sleep pattern or sleeplessness due to workload and intense work pressure are amongst the two reasons why the driver is tired and restless. Tiredness and restlessness are considered to cause disruptions in the attention, the commanding ability of the driver, the coordination between what they want to do and what they do, and their reaction in unexpected situations, and that the drivers working in shifts, professional drivers, young drivers, and drivers with sleep disorders have more risk.

It is indicated that the driver should be considered as restless and tired in accidents happening where the vehicle goes off the road, ones in which drivers are alone, ones there are not any brake marks or are but quite short and that such accidents result in death.

Therefore, traffic controls are suggested to be performed to fight against inattentiveness caused by tiredness and restlessness as well as other risk factors. Tachographs and camera systems being in-vehicle control systems are used in the control of the fact that the working hours are neglected, and that the driver may be tired and restless. It is believed that the devices considered to be effective in understanding the driver tiredness will be adapted along with the advancement of technology. Serious progress was made in recent years with the method of controlling the drivers performing intercity freight and passenger transportation by pulling them over in roadside control points.

Controls with in-vehicle systems, freight and passenger transportation companies to show more efforts in the fight against driver tiredness, to understand that working the driver excessively and inappropriately is an occupational health and safety problem, the drivers as personnel to be a close-follower of their rights, and the information campaigns and traffic police controls are the main efforts to be made in this field.

TIREDNESS AND RESTLESSNESS CONTROL

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Inspecting the tiredness and restlessness conditions of drivers by pulling the vehicles transporting freight and passenger transportation in points identified over the main routes used in freight and passenger transportation,
  2. Ensuring that drivers considered to be coming from far away and have driven continuously for so long stop over/rest in proper roadside parks and control points for a while,
  3. Making efforts on necessitating the technological tools enabling the performance of tiredness controls in vehicles.

b. Traffic Enforcement Through “Focusing on Vehicles“ Enforcement Within Safe System Approach

A part of the traffic accidents happening in the road network is an accident in which a single car is involved and are approached as a separate heading in the accident analyses of international organizations. Reasons such as using cell phone distracting the driver in general, tiredness and alcohol use affecting the suitability of the driver to driving, or factors such as overspeeding increasing the risk individually, play a role in accidents involving a single vehicle. Pedestrian accidents form another aspect of accidents involving a single vehicle and the pedestrians subject has also been discussed under the Vulnerable Road Users heading.

The safe use of roads within commercial activities required the more elaborated discussion of freight and passenger transportation with commercial or other purposes other than personal and individual ones, especially the freight and passenger transportation with commercial purposes.

Two-wheeled vehicles such as motorcycles, motor bicycles, and bicyclesdraw more and more interest under today’s conditions and motorcycles are used in intracity and upstate traffic, and motor bicycles and bicycles in intracity traffic increasingly. It is considered that they are preferred more due to such reasons as ensuring fuel economy, are environment-friendly, assist people in being closer to nature, do not pose a parking problem in urban use, and are able to move freely even in traffic jams. However, this vehicle group needs to be subjected to inspection specifically to minimize the potential of posing a risk as their number increases in traffic.

 i. Controls to be Performed to Prevent Single Vehicle Traffic Accidents

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

CONTROLS TO BE PERFORMED TO PREVENT SINGLE VEHICLE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls by Preventing Single Vehicle Traffic Accidents within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Reviewing the entire road as part of the basic principles of the safe system approach and designing the newly-built roads according to this approach,
  2. Implementing the EU Directive on “ Road Infrastructure Safety Management” No. 2008/96/EC in all roads208,
  3. Setting databases pertinent to conduct in-depth accident research and presenting it to the full use of research teams,
  4. Making in-depth accident research efforts in all traffic accidents, including single-vehicle accidents resulting in death and serious injury209,
  5. Applying measures developed on the road structure and parameter to all road networks as part of the “Self-Expressing and Easy to Adapt Roads and Forgiving Road Parameter“,

    6. Removing all objects on the roadside that can be removed and poses a threat for the vehicle and the persons inside in case the vehicle goes off the road, covering the surrounding of the objects that cannot be removed with safety barriers,

    7. Placing proper motorcycle protective barriers in road sections, where motorcycle accidents may happen,

    8. Standardizing the road signs and sign boards including the roads under the responsibility of municipalities and controlling the conformity to these standards,

    9. Taking measures to prevent the accidents such as a single vehicle going off the road, tumbling down, driving away, and crashing into the barrier object the drivers recently receiving their driver’s licences or driving their vehicle at short distances in the city, and referred to as inexperienced cause in long distance intercity travels,

    10. By making the necessary amendments on the implementation of the EU Regulation on the Type-Approval Conditions for the General Safety of Motor Vehicles No. 2009/661/EC;

    i. Making the Intelligent Speed Assistance System, Autonomous Emergency Breaking System, and Advanced Seatbelt Warning Systems in all seats obligatory in all newly-produced vehicles,

    ii. Making necessary regulations to necessitate the alcolocks in all newly-produced vehicles performing commercial freight and passenger transportation and included in the scope,

    iii. Making the “Scene of Accident Recorder” in all newly-produced vehicles included in the scope and utilizing these data in accident research.

 

ii. Control of Vehicles Transporting Freight and Passengers

All sectors and entities conducting commercial activities making use of the road network at every level and the businesses conducting activities over the road network such as construction, maintenance, repair, and building need to exhibit behaviours pertinent to traffic safety.

Sectors and entities carrying out activities on the road structure or through the road bear moral and legal responsibility to ensure the traffic safety of their employees and the public. These entities have the necessary resources and specialization to take traffic safety to further levels.

The loss of life of persons using the road due to their job and occupation in traffic accidents constitute around 30% of the occupational accident-caused deaths occurring around the world and the percentage is higher in the EU countries.210 Therefore, the traffic safety of persons who have to use the road as per their occupations and arts or the sector they work for constitute an “Occupational Health and Safety” problem as well.

In this sense, the Ministry of Family, Labour, and Social Services211 units fulfil the duties of ensuring measures by making necessary efforts to plan, programme, and ensure the implementation of examination and research activities on occupational health and safety and preventing occupational accidents and diseases, perform the market surveillance and inspection of personal protective equipment produced and imported, determine the rules and procedures in these matters, and protect all workers including the ones under vocational training, rehabilitation, the ones working with special risk groups and in public services against occupational accidents and diseases, and set “Contributing to taking measures to prevent occupational accidents and diseases” as a goal.212

Traffic safety is a serious occupational health and safety problem

Thousands of people are in action on the roads due to their jobs every day. A part of these people are professional drivers and they transport freight and passengers from one point of the country to another. Another part of the persons using the roads as needed by their jobs and occupations are in the second group, the ones not performing any transportation activities but occupational groups such as the wholesalers visiting the shops of their customers as per their jobs and occupations, traders with the obligation to check the commercial activities they have to follow in different places, agricultural workers, public officials providing public services such as carriers, ambulance drivers, fire department, and police. All these people just like the ones in other professions wish to reach their houses safe and sound in the evening.

However, those working in the aforesaid occupational groups involved in traffic accidents beyond a percentage than the ones working in the other occupational groups, or themselves or the other party involved in the accident get seriously harmed. When considering that the size of the vehicles transporting freight and passengers is bigger than others, one can understand that the ones on the other side suffer more damages in the accident happening.

One of the significant and critical topics of the 2021-2030 Traffic Safety Strategy Paper is to ensure the safety of the occupational groups using the road mandatorily as required by their jobs and occupations and the persons being a party to the accidents these groups get involved. Examining the positive aspects that may contribute to the solution of the problem, one can conjecture that the solution is not that difficult. That is to say, the companies within the supply chain that are willing to ensure the safety of their employees will morally and legally exhibit the proper behaviour. Additionally, the measures the companies using motor vehicles on a large scale as a fleet take will contribute to the development of traffic culture positively.

However, this much is certain that sometimes out of unconsciousness and sometimes with the thought of cutting down the expenses, some companies are witnessed not to take the traffic safety of their employees seriously and fulfil their responsibilities. Tiredness, distractibility, and the gaps in the vehicle safety members are the leading causes the persons who need to drive a vehicle get involved in due to their jobs and occupations.

All companies constituting supply chain need to embrace traffic safety

The improvement of traffic safety should be supported by companies, for it will minimize the traffic risks related to the employees and be facilitated with additional measures the companies will take such as the working hour arrangements. Although some companies take important steps to consciously ensure traffic safety in this field, others remain insensitive.

Companies and organizations such as associations and foundations conducting activities with motor vehicles if not commercial must take measures to reduce the risks of staff they utilized through working voluntarily and develop strategies on the traffic safety of staff.

On the other hand, there is a lot of staff commuting to their workplaces with their private vehicles as well as those using the personnel vehicle in many public institutions. When viewed from this aspect, the service vehicles and personnel of public institutions driving in traffic are considered to have serious contributions to the development of traffic culture.

Furthermore, regulations on vehicle safety may be demanded as well as additional conditions be stipulated for the drivers subjected to labour contract in institutions making transport tender to comply with the traffic rules.

The demand for customer forms the market and shapes the supply in freight and passenger transportation. The company, conducting transportation activity mostly by the demand from the customer, remains under time pressure and may neglect the traffic rules wishing to manage the product or service as soon as possible, and as a consequence traffic safety suffers and the safety of life and property is compromised. Thus, demanding companies to force the transporter on transportation safety conditions is more effective than any other kind of control. Traffic accidents will be eliminated in case safety is sought in the entire supply chain.

Regulations to meet the need in terms of occupational health and safety is required for commercial transportation activities

Currently there is the Highway Transportation Law No. 4925 put into practice to organize the road transportation as required by the country economy, ensure order and safety in transportation, determine the conditions of shipping warehouse and cargo industry, etc. services with the transporter, agency, and the freight forwarders, identify the qualifications, rights and responsibilities of the workers employed in transportation, and ensure road transportation to provide complementary services with other transportation systems, and ensure the more effective use of available facilities in Turkey and the Highway Transportation Regulation published and put into practice with the Official Gazette dated 08.01.2018 and No. 30295 referring to this law, the Highway Transportation Activities Professional Competence Training Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 03.09.2004 and No. 25572, the Public Institutions and Organizations Personnel Service Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 25.02.2004 and No. 25384, and the School Service Vehicles Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 25.10.2017 No. 30221.

An approach putting forward proper behaviours and throwing traffic violations out of the system is needed in the commercial transportation sector. The Article 6 and 7 of the Highway Transportation Law No. 4925 approach the responsibility and liability of transportation and the abovementioned legislative regulations protect the rights of passengers and personnel with several provisions and try to ensure the performance of transportation pertinent to traffic rules.

Besides, making detailed regulations on the transportation sector will be suitable in the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 as well as that the matters on transportation have been organized in the Municipal Law No. 5393 and the secondary legislation with the Law for Metropolitan Municipalities No. 5216.

Safe vehicles and new technology reduce the risk of traffic accident

There are new production vehicles in the vehicle fleet of several companies depending onpractical reasons such as using credit during purchase. These vehicles are continued to be used until they complete their economic lives. Conditions on the qualification, age, and roadworthiness of the vehicle to be used in transportation can be imposed in service procurements made through tender.

In fleet rental or service rental contracts, it is significant to request additional safety equipment such as Driver Assistance System in vehicles in terms of the development of technological innovation. Therefore, requesting measures where technological advancements have been adapted to traffic safety have serious contributions to traffic safety.

Companies may contribute to the development of the sector by demanding equipment that can be added after the production of the vehicles

Devices mounted inside the vehicle with telematics devices and presenting information such as the location, route, and speed of the vehicle through communication instruments are the most important one amongst these technologies. One should not ignore the fact that the development of the sector depends on these demands as requested by companies.

1.Control of Heavy Tonnage Vehicles Transporting Freight

When examining the accidents vehicles such as heavy tonnage trucks, towing truck and tankers are involved in, it is considered that the rear signing of most of the relevant vehicles involved in the accident is insufficient, they have no underride guard or is not in line with the Regulation on the Production, Modification, and Installation of Vehicles, therefore, the severity and result of the accident increase in rear-end collisions along with crashing vehicle getting under the heavy tonnage vehicle in front, that these vehicles stop and park without sufficient warning signs except unavoidable circumstances over shoulders and lanes, and that a part of the traffic accidents happens due to the disorderly use lanes by heavy vehicles.

Therefore, to increase the visibility and safety of vehicles performing freight transportation on intercity roads, controls are performed to prevent other traffic violations that constitute a cause for accidents, especially having the side and rear underride guard and rear signboard and reflector present in aforesaid vehicles.

It is understood that the main cause of accidents that are vehicles such as trucks, towing trucks, and tankers are involved in is side-on/rear-end collision, going off the road and tumbling/swaying, and that overspeeding, failure to adapt the speed of the vehicle to road conditions, driving wearily and wakefully, and lack of concentration while driving cause the occurrence of such accidents.

The speed and driving hours of drivers are checked over tachograph records in controls. On the other hand, it is observed that the rear-end/side-on accidents these vehicles are involved in result in death and severe injuries, for these vehicles are heavy and bulky, do not have any rear and side underride guards, or are not in line with the standards.

In controls performed over K-1 Vehicles and Drivers Transporting Freight across the country, special controls are planned and performed along with the general controls on ensuring the technical requirements and equipment specified in the legislation such as underride guard, reflector, or light equipment, and the drivers of these vehicles to comply with driving hours, loading, driving in the appropriate lane, and other rules, especially speeding.

CONTROL OF HEAVY TONNAGE VEHICLES TRANSPORTING FREIGHT

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of Heavy Tonnage Vehicles Transporting Freight within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Making simplification efforts to increase the controllability of licenses organized in detail in the Highway Transportation Regulation and having several types,
  2. Taking necessary measures to prevent such violations causing traffic accidents as these accidents happen as rear-end collision resulting in death and severe injury as the heavy tonnage vehicles stopping and parking over hard shoulders/shoulders, and roadway on intercity roads, especially on speedways except for unavoidable circumstances,
  3. Performing controls on having rear and side underride guards, rear sign board, and reflectors in line with the Regulation on the Production, Modification, and Installation of Vehicles to increase the visibility and safety of vehicles transporting freight in intercity roads,
  4. Taking the necessary measures on performing the tachograph controls of heavy tonnage vehicles on a 24/7 basis.
 

2.Control of Buses Performing Intercity Passenger Transportation

Bus companies performing passenger transportation as well as non-governmental organizations, associations, school administrations, and intercity passenger transportation activities for summer/winter tourism and sportive and cultural activities organized by tour companies are important in terms of traffic safety.

When examining the accidents the vehicles transporting intercity passengers are involved in, one can see that the drivers drive their vehicles without predicting the weather and road conditions in traffic, the accidents happen at night mostly due to tiredness and restlessness, the results of the accidents have been severe in parallel with the drivers/passengers not wearing their seatbelts, and the accidents mostly result in severe injuries and deaths with violations such as not decelerating while approaching to intersections during the daytime, not complying with traffic lights, signs, and signboards, the lane-keeping and changing rules, and not maintaining a safe following distance.

Moreover, awareness-raising activities are conducted at company managements’ level in meetings held with the bus company executives and the “seatbelt use in drivers and passengers, the drivers talking on the phone while driving, red light violation, the drivers complying with working and relaxation hours” matters are controlled by officers by appointing a civil traffic control staff to intercity busses travelling to almost all parts of Turkey.

Special controls are planned and performed in periods when the intercity passenger transportation activities increase along with the controls performed over K-2 Vehicles and Drivers Transporting Passengers, K-12 Vehicles and Drivers Transporting Passengers at the Terminal performed across the country to minimize traffic accidents, maximize the level of compliance of drivers to traffic rules, and increase the perceived risk of being caught on road users through control activities.

The number of buses and other accidents in road routes was observed to have been reduced through intensive controls performed at traffic control points organized on a 24/7 basis in road route with importance to prevent the accidents the buses used in intercity passenger transportation are involved in.

CONTROL OF BUSES PERFORMING INTERCITY PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of Buses Performing Intercity Passenger Transportation within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Increasing the number of control points organized on a 24/7 basis for the buses performing intercity passenger transportation and continuing controls uninterruptedly and decisively,
  2. Keeping the information record system (inspection, insurance, identification of drivers, arrival-departure hours, etc.) up-to-date by establishing a common infrastructure systems between terminals,
  3. Following the vehicle plate and driver information of buses performing intercity passenger transportation with a common system to be established and performing controls,
  4. Performing the controls of buses performing intercity passenger transportation at departure terminals and intermediate terminal points,
  5. Ensuring the performance of driver’s card controls through card readers at terminals,
  6. Continuing the on the move control practice by assigning civil personnel in intercity busses,
  7. Making necessary regulations in the legislation on taking the measures to prevent the vehicle from departing in cases when the inspection validity period of vehicles to depart will end before the completion of the travel or when the inspection ended before the travel.

 

3.Tehlikeli Madde Taşıyan Araçların Denetimi (ADR)

It is extremely important to carry out the hazardous material transportation activities to be performed by road without harming the human health and other living creatures in a safe, secure, and orderly way and control the responsibilities and liabilities of senders, receiver, filling, loading, unloading, packaging, tank-container/portable tank managers, transporters, and all kinds of vehicle drivers carrying hazardous materials.

High-ranking gendarmerie staff were authorized with the control of the vehicles transporting hazardous materials in areas outside the jurisdiction of authorized staff from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, traffic officers, and traffic police within the scope of the Regulation on the Transportation of Hazardous Materials by Highways published in the Official Gazette dated 24.04.2019 and No. 30754.

The control authority is fulfilled by staff trained according to the regulation.

CONTROL OF VEHICLES CARRYING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS (ADR)

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of Vehicles Carrying Hazardous Materials (ADR) within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Performing joint controls by providing sufficient training to staff in relevant institutions and organizations to be assigned in the control of vehicles transporting hazardous material,
  2. Making efforts on building control turn-outs pertinent to the control of vehicles transporting hazardous material over the route and the parking area with improved safety,
  3. Performing controls in line with national and international legislation, and due form and eliminating the risk capacity of the vehicle transporting hazardous materials in terms of traffic safety.

 

 

4.Control of Intracity Service Vehicles

The transportation of a lot of staff working in many professions such as the staff service transportation of intracity public and private institutions and organizations, staff service transportation of private persons, tourism service transportation, and free service transportation of companies is performed by service vehicles.

The regulations on the relevant service vehicles are made by municipalities. However, the control activities of traffic police on the matters concerning traffic safety need to be carried out.

The controls of the technical competence, license and permits are performed to prevent them from being involved in traffic accidents of vehicles of private or public businesses, carrying workers to factories in intracity and intercity roads. It is observed that the public transport vehicle drivers do not decrease their speed on road sections with pedestrian crossings indicated with traffic signboards and road signs, follow the passenger drop-off and pick-up rules, and endanger the traffic safety, for they take on passengers over the transportation limit as well as using a cell phone while driving and committing the red light violation.

The violation of, respectively, the Articles 65/1-a, 78/1-a, 58, 73, 47/1-b, and 51 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 of the aforesaid vehicle drivers is corroborative to the above-stated evaluations. These drivers are known to get involved in traffic accidents such as “crashing into the sidewalk, rear-end collision, head-on collision by passing into the opposite direction, crashing into the pedestrians waiting at the bus stop or over the pedestrian walk, etc.” as a result of losing the steering control.

Within this scope, specific controls are planned and performed to ensure traffic safety, minimize traffic accidents, and increase the perceived risk of being caught over the drivers through control activities.

ENFORCEMENT OF SERVICE BUSSES

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of Service Vehicles within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Imposing administrative sanctions against violations by subjecting the compliance of vehicles performing service transportation to Road Traffic Law, Road Transportation Law, and Municipal legislation to control,
  2. Subjecting them to internal audit by institutions performing, managing, and engaging service transportation,
  3. Making legislative efforts within the Road Traffic Law and Road Transportation Law to eliminate problems experienced and ensure integrity and conformity in sanctions in case unauthorized or misuse of transportation are performed in service transportation performed within or outside municipal boundaries

The controls of the service vehicles transporting students as part of the Regulation on the School Service Vehicles published in the Official Gazette dated 25.10.2017 and No. 30221 are performed to make the transportation of students within preschool education and compulsory education and children continuing kindergarten, daycare centres, and children’s clubs regular and safe, and determine the rules and procedures on the competence and working conditions, and control operations of natural and legal entities.

The control of school service vehicles is performed by service control commissions and the participation of Ministry of National Education, Directorate General of Security, General Commandership of Gendarmerie, Municipalities and eligible staff is ensured by governorships and district governorships in these commissions.

The controls and sanctions have been included in Article 13 of the regulations and, significantly, the duties on control allocated in the regulation are fulfilled in cooperation and coordination.

The directives prepared on the traffic measures to be applied close to the opening of schools are submitted to relevant units to ensure that children at school-age can travel at peace and in safety, prevent the traffic accidents the service vehicles may get involved, and keep the transportation activities under discipline.

It is our main priority to take all kinds of measures to ensure the travel of children as our future generations to and from school at peace and in safety and prevent the accidents the service vehicles may get involved. 179,791 school service vehicle drivers and guiding staff were provided with training in 2020.

As such, one-week controls before the education starts and the mid-term breaks, then intermediate and special controls according to changing conditions are planned and performed across the nation along with the general controls performed on K-11 School Service Vehicles to ensure that children at the school-age can travel in peace and in safety, increase the risk of being caught through control activities, and prevent the traffic accidents these vehicles may get involved in by keeping the attention and sensibility of service drivers at the highest level.

CONTROL OF SCHOOL SERVICE VEHICLES Consistent, and Intensive Controls of School

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of School Service Vehicles within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Reviewing and arranging the School Service Vehicles legislation at certain intervals to en-sure the safe travels of students using school service vehicles
  2. All responsible institutions and organizations to on the safe use of school service vehicles in terms of students and other road users
  3. Controlling the school service vehicles in cooperation with other authorized institutions and organizations routinely and at unpredictable periods.

iii. Control of Motorcycles, Motor Bicycles, and Bicycles

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.

MOTORCYCLES, MOTOR BICYCLES, AND BICYCLES

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensur-ing Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of Motorcycles, Motor Bicycles, and Bicycles within the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

 

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).
  1. Considering the needs of two-wheeler motor vehicles on traffic safety such as building motorcycle-friendly protection barriers in the road infrastructure safety efforts made within the Regulation on Highway Infrastructure Safety Management,
  2. Carrying out the maintenance of road surface to ensure the highest rate of handling and prevent skidding,
  3. Accommodating the road design to the two-wheeler motor vehicle users especially the road bends and intersections, being attentive to the wideness of visual angle and sign boards,
  4. Objects around the road structure and close to/over the road to be positioned in a way not to prevent the safe use of the road by two-wheeler motor vehicles,
  5. Setting the compulsory minimum conditions as part of the relevant international legislation for protective clothing and equipment,
  6. Informing the persons purchasing motorcycles of the importance of wearing a head guard and its proper use, and organizing campaigns,
  7. Purchasing head guards obligatory in the sales of such vehicles,
  8. Controlling the use of head guards by road users using motorcycles and the proper instalment and readability of registration plates over the vehicle,
  9. Conducting the necessary research studies to develop an Intelligent Balance System to be used in two-wheeler motor vehicles,
  10. Making training efforts for vehicle drivers and motorcycle riders to improve their skills on driving/riding these vehicles; these efforts to focus on accident prevention, risk assessment, vehicle control topics, and the training of student drivers to the harms the vulnerable road users get and ensuring the internalization of “Watch out for vulnerable road users!” rule while driving,
  11. Ensuring the visibility of registration plates by controllers and their readability by the Electronic Control Systems detected to resolve the problems in the identification of the registration plate of the vehicle in some types of control, for the plates of motorcycles are mounted on their rear-end in the traffic violations committed by motorcycle riders,
  12. Performing joint controls with civil units en route, although the controls of traffic units are fixed in these vehicles,
  13. Controlling such vehicles used in public services and their users by their institutions and sharing the responsibility to ensure that they comply with all rules,
  14. The motorcycle couriers to be subjected to controls in the presence of the companies they are employed by as well as their controls in traffic,
  15. Regulating the occupational health safety extent of motorcycle couriers in the legislation of relevant institutions and the relevant institutions to be subjected to controls by the audit employees,
  16. The instantaneous controls of motorcycles used by motorcycle couriers in the field to be performed within the companies they work for and ensuring the application of measures, for the road cases identified to have been added afterwards for courier transportation and improper for type approval also pose a risk to traffic safety,
  17. Preparing public service ads to raise social awareness on motorcycle and motor bicycle accidents and sharing them in national media,
  18. Imposing the compulsory liability insurance condition for motor bicycles (mopeds).

 

iv. Control of Tractors, Other Agricultural Vehicles, and Machines Using the Highway

Several risk factors that did not attract the attention in traffic safety were subjected to detailed examination along with the World Traffic Safety Report published by the World Health Organization in 2004. One of the important factors in the happening of traffic accidents are the ones happening when agricultural vehicles and tractors being amongst the reasons of traffic accidents at varying severity according to the seasonal and regional conditions use the road.

According to the research conducted, the main reasons the agricultural vehicles and tractors are involved in traffic accidents have been discussed under the headings of the vehicle, driver, and the road structure. According to this research;216

The following are the factors resulting from the vehicle; tractors and agricultural vehicles having a limited visual angle, low visibility, different wideness when compared with other vehicles and lacking sufficient protective equipment due to their structure, and the increasing accident severity due to the intensity of their metal components.

The driver factor becomes prominent as another factor of why agricultural vehicles and tractors are involved in accidents. The drivers of these vehicles are not, in general, in the same position as the other vehicle drivers in terms of risk perception and risk acceptance. These vehicles have low manoeuvrability due to their limited speeds and sufficient equipment are not available in tractors and agricultural vehicles to protect the drivers. Moreover, the estimation of the speeds of these vehicles by other road users using the same road and the potential of driving anticipatingly decreases because of the design speed of these vehicles being low and their sizes.

The agricultural vehicles and tractors are considered to pose a potential risk in terms of other road users as a result of damaging the road structure, for the road design are not suitable for these vehicles in examining the agricultural vehicles and tractors in terms of road infrastructure.

According to a research conducted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and German Insurance Association (GDV), the tractor accidents mainly happened when the made a turn (75% of the turning accidents in left-turns), on the move in flowing traffic, in intersections, hitting a parked vehicle, single-sided, and pedestrian accident.

It is observed the tractors and other agricultural vehicles used in agricultural activities in rural areas in the first hours and evening hours of the day are densely used in the roads depending on seasonal conditions.217

When examining the vehicle profile in Turkey, it is a fact that tractors constitute 8,2% of the total number of motor vehicles and a large part of them do not have compulsory insurance and technical inspection. The fact that vehicle owners and drivers do not pay enough attention to traffic safety, for they

have different priorities since tractors are in traffic at certain times of the year and carry out activities mostly in villages/rural areas cause these percentages to be high.

Supporting this thought, it is understood that people perform a one-day visit to residential areas with tractors before and after the agricultural activities recently, enter into and exit the intercity road controlled/uncontrolled with the instruments mounted on the back of the tractor, use tractors lacking or without light or other technical equipment at the end of the day and night, and affect the road traffic safety negatively, since they have limited noticeability and visibility due to their gaps or structures.

Special controls were planned and performed in periods when the agricultural activities seasonally increased across the country to minimize traffic accidents, maximize the compliance of drivers to traffic rules, and increase the perceived risk of being caught over road users through control activities. The following matters are meticulously checked in the controls:

  1. Whether the drivers have the valid technical inspection and insurances as well as driver’s license,
  2. Whether the front and rear light equipment and trailer rear signboards and the flickering and spinning warning light with flasher and yellow light included in the rule No. 1 of the Annex of the Road Traffic Regulation,
  3. And whether the tractor-trailers and hook-up equipment were loaded inappropriately as specified in the regulation.

Ensuring Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Controls of Tractors, Other Agricultural Vehicles, and Machines within the Safe System Approach

CONTROL OF TRACTORS AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL VEHICLES

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. In road sections crossing areas where agricultural activities are carried out;

    i. Allocating the nearside lane to agricultural machines and arranging this lane in a proper width for these machines,

    ii. Constructing the entrance and exit angles wide in road sections requiring right-turn such as field, rural road, and construction area,

    ii. iii. Taking measures to prevent the tractors from uncontrollably passing the central refuge of the road sections in these areas,

    iv. Removing elements such as trees, bushes, and structures preventing the angle of vision.

    2. Placing necessary horizontal and vertical signing to warn the road users driving in areas where tractors and agricultural vehicles are dense for touristic purposes, travel, and journey,

    3. Checking the road structure frequently due to the use of agricultural vehicles and ensuring the maintenance and repair of ones having potential for other road users to have an accident,

    4. Strengthening the lighting of roads in areas where agricultural vehicles and tractors are dense,

    5. Installing the pull-type proper electric wiring to tractors and trailers to increase the visibility of tractors,

    6. Increasing the visibility of tractors and trailers by increasing the number and amount of lights and reflective parts in tractors and the trailers hitched to tractors,

    7. Using reflective signs and sign boards to ensure the visibility of other pull-type machines during their use with the tractor,

    8. In accidents happening as a collision, installing apparatus to the side and rear-end of the tractor as part of the relevant international type-approval legislation to prevent the crashing vehicle from go under the tractor or the trailer pulled,

    9. Adapting the visual or audial warning devices to prevent the accidents happening while reversing,

    10. As the newly produced tractors have the capacity to be involved in serious accidents, ensuring the presence of Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) in these vehicles as it is in automobiles as part of the relevant international type-approval legislation,

    11. Performing the controls and obviating discrepancies in terms of such components as lights and reflector along with the informational activities on traffic safety in coordination with the agricultural directorates in the areas they are in, towns, and villages before the beginning of the agricultural seasons and at the end of it,

    12. Performing target-oriented controls on these vehicles and their drivers in areas and at times when the tractors and agricultural vehicles are dense,

    13. Subjecting the trailers to periodical inspections with the tractors they are hitched to, for they can carry the same plate as the tractors they are coupled,

    14. Performing the instantaneous inspections of tractors in coordination with the local units, provincial and subprovincial agricultural directorates, and cooperatives in villages and towns at least once a year as well as their routine inspections,

    15. Providing safe tractor driving trainings in villages and towns to improve the driving skills of young tractor drivers exclusively.

 

 

c. “Road-Oriented” Traffic Controls as part of the Safe System Approach

The main objective of traffic controls is to develop the adaptation behaviour in road users, and it is necessary to obviate all kinds of physical harms for tangible assets of human and all kinds of harmful behaviours that may pose a threat to the assets of humans.

Along with showing alteration by years, a large part of;

  • 3.060 km of speedways,
  • 31.006 km of national roads,
  • And 34.165 km of country roads

In the inventory of Directorate General of Highways as of 2020 are important in terms of Annual Average Daily Traffic Values, and the traffic volume map of the national roads as of 01.01.2020 is as follows:218

Figure: National Highways Traffic Volume Map (2019)

 

i. Traffic Controls in Highways

Access Controlled Highway (Speedway) is the road allocated to transit traffic, with prohibited entrance and exits except for specific areas and conditions, where no pedestrian, animal, and non-motorized vehicle can enter and only permitted vehicles can benefit from, and where the traffic is subjected to special control. Speedways have the characteristic of being the roads with high standards, where the minimum speed limit is applied, high-travel speed and over which the access control is applied. 3.060 km of speedway which includes the speedways taken into service constructed with the build-operate-transfer model is available under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Highways as of 01.01.2020.

The infrastructure and road parameter having specific qualifications, the presence of lower and higher-speed limits, the barrier behind letting all types of vehicles to enter these roads, and the restriction on the entrance of bicycles and pedestrians to these road sections are amongst the main features of speedways. Additionally, one of the most important features it has is the fact that the traffic flowing at a certain speed and the vulnerable road users aren’t in the same place. As such, the speedways are road sections ensuring maximum safety by building an internet space in terms of traffic safety.

The controls were initiated in Turkey by identifying the average speeds of vehicles from the distance they covered between the HGS/OGS points the vehicles entered and the one they exit in speedways and duration information on the speedways with 2.155 km long, where the toll collection system pertain to the Directorate General of Highways is available along with the roadside traffic controls as of 1 July 2017. A serious decrease was ensured in traffic accidents related to speeding with the Speedway Average Speed Detection System.

It is observed that the use of motorcycle-friendly barrier structure in a way to not harm the persons using the motorcycle in case of an accident in which motorcycles using roads at high speeds go off the road is recommended in projects conducted by international organizations.

TRAFFIC CONTROLS IN SPEEDWAYS

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Putting into practice the directive No. 2008/96/EC in all roads including speedways,
  2. Removing all physical obstacles in the immediate vicinity of speedways with the potential to harm people in case of an accident and placing barriers preventing the access to these objects in places where not,
  3. Performing the speed controls by putting into practice the Electronic Control Systems established in available speedways according to the Average Speed Violation Detection System in other roads where the controls are performed with the build-operate-transfer (BOT) system,
  4. Putting into practice the average speed detection systems in all speedways as part of the best practice examples,
  5. Placing motorcycle-friendly barriers in speedways where motorcycle accidents happen frequently
  6. Increasing the following distance controls in speedways and inside the tunnels,
  7. Activating necessary engineering solutions to prevent the entrance of pedestrians and wild animals to speedways.

 

 

ii. Traffic Controls in Interprovincial State Roads

One of the important problems in road traffic safety in Turkey is speed management. Overspeeding and underspeed are the leading problems of road safety in Turkey as it is in several other countries. Overspeeding (exceeding the speed limit) or underspeed (speed under the speed limit depending on conditions) are dangerous. When examining the traffic accidents involving death and injury happening in a residential area by driver failure; the vehicle speed not being in accordance with the conditions the road, weather, and traffic required is observed to be the first error with a serious rate.

Another striking statistic is the distribution of traffic accidents involving death and injury happening in a residential area by the geometric properties of the road and a large part of the accidents happen in road sections with geometric properties identified as”Straight Road”. This statistic reveals that motor vehicle drivers speed over the speed limits in straight road sections enabling geometrically fast traveling and cause accidents.221

It is important to ensure traffic safety over National Highways enabling the operation of freight and passenger traffic to a great extent by interconnecting our provinces.

Map; Heavy Vehicle and Total Traffic Volume Map 2019

State Roads are main roads falling outside the roads under the responsibility of municipalities or other institutions and accessing the transit traffic to subprovinces, harbours, shipyards, airports, railway stations, and border gates uninterruptedly.

According to analyses performed, it is observed that accidents involving death and injury show an increase in summer seasons when compared with the winter season, people heading towards holiday resorts along with the weather getting warmer cause traffic density especially in intercity roads, then again accidents involving death and injuries show an increase over especially the intercity national roads in time zones enabling people to go for long vacations such as official holidays regardless of the season. The controls of private and commercial vehicles were performed nonstop and day and night by control units to prevent these accidents, and serious progress was made in reducing the traffic accidents. The total length of national roads is 31.006 km as of 01.01.2020 and 17.991 km of it is asphalt concrete, 12.654 km is surface treated, 56 km is paved road, 27 km is stabilized road, and 278 km is other roads.219 Again, the Vehicle/ km is 90.177, Passenger/km is 223.487, and Tonnage/km is 180.864 in the national roads under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Highways in 2019.220

The heavy vehicle and total traffic volume map in Turkey as of 2019 is as follows:

TRAFFIC CONTROL IN INTERPROVINCIAL NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Increasing the Technical Competence and Capacity of Fixed/Mobile Highway Control Stations as part of the Safe System Approach

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Determining which control strategy would be the best in the preparation stage of roadside control plans, planning the staff and equipment related to controls, informing the public on traffic controls now and again,
  2. Planning the controls in accident black spots and in a way to involve the tunnels being the places with severe results and places construction areas,
  3. Making structural regulations to ease the traffic in areas with traffic density.
  4. Concentrating the controls on the following topics;

    i. Overspeeding,

    ii. The use of protective equipment (seatbelt, child seat/equipment, headguard),

    iii. Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or narcotic substance,

    iv. Not complying with the following distance rules,

    v. Not complying with the relaxation times for drivers transporting freight and passengers,

    5. The speed controls to be;

    i. Performed by radar teams on accident black spots where accidents based on overspeeding is frequently observed,

    ii. The employment of control methods based on Average Speed Violation Detection Systems in national highways forming the north-south and east-west axles of the highway network,

    6. Performing controls on devices that is useful to identify the location of systems performing radar and other speed measurement,

    7. Increasing the following distance controls especially over main roads and inside tunnels,

    8. Preventing the vehicles transporting freight and passengers from posing a threat inside tunnels by performing necessary controls over roadside control points and with automatic control systems to ensure high level traffic safety inside tunnels,

    9. Performing the controls of relaxation times of commercial drivers transporting freight and passengers as part of international and national rules both in safe control points organized over highways and in facilities pertain to transportation companies, and by examining similar record devices,

    10. Preventing vehicles performing freight transportation from damaging the road structure by installing x-ray devices over the road before entering the tunnel to prevent them from overloading, making regulations on the use of heat detection devices for engine and brakes in control points, building new emergency escape ramps in routes needing them in addition to the available ones.

    11. Inspections of protective devices (seat belts, child protection devices) and protective headgear;

    i. Performed on any stopped vehicle without the need for a special inspection program

    ii. Organizing special inspection programs of approximately one week at certain periods throughout the year, controlling other violations in combination in these inspection programs.

    12. The controls on driving under the influence of alcohol and/or narcotic substance to be increased

    i. Critical areas and times, especially at nights and on the weekends,

    ii. Performing and improving the controls by pulling over a random vehicle.

 

iii. Traffic Control in County Roads

County roads represent the roads interconnecting provinces, national roads, harbours, shipyards, railway stations, airports, and other places the public necessitated, and starting and ending within a provincial border, except for the roads under the responsibility of municipalities or other institutions.

The total length of county roads is 67.330 km as of 01.01.2020 and the Vehicle/km of the county roads in the road network under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Highways is 19.002, Passenger/km is 42.612, Tonnage/km is 20.067 in 2019.223

Taking some measures is evaluated to be effective in the context of ensuring traffic safety on county roads, and amongst these measures are;224

  • Taking measures to calm the traffic and protect the vulnerable road users,
  • Ensuring additional lanes enabling the drivers to overtake the vehicle in front in a controlled and safe manner in county roads used dividedly or the roadway width to overtake the vehicle in front in specific areas, and making road regulations eliminating the potential of encountering the on-coming traffic enabling left turns,
  • Dividing the centre line with a barrier in roads used by two-way traffic,
  • Providing lighting in intersections and areas with the potential for the traffic going in different directions,
  • Aligning the roads horizontally,
  • Slowing down the speed gradually by placing signboards in hairpin turns,
  • Placing speed signs at certain intervals,
  • Building lanes with rumble strips,
  • Regular control and maintenance of damages on the road such as holes and landslides,
  • Regular controls of objects on the roadsides, removing blinding structures such as trees, posts, and fence from the road

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.

 

iv. Traffic Controls in Rural Areas and Village Roads 

Village roads are the roads interconnecting the vvillage outside the national and provincial road network to other villages (including the municipalities in the town) and their affiliations, provinces, subprovinces, city centres, and national and provincial roads.

Rural roads and village roads are areas that need special attention in terms of traffic safety. The road and environment structure may not always reflect the optimal conditions in these regions. The potential of observing deteriorations over the road structure is high due to natural conditions, climate conditions, land structure, etc.

Roads such as village roads, touristic roads, and forest roads are generally located in rural areas and their construction and maintenance are ensured by the Directorate General of Highways with the finance obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Village roads are under the responsibility of the Special Provincial Directorates of Administration, and the forest roads are under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.225

The construction, maintenance, and repair of village roads are performed by the administrations within the Law on the Special Provincial Directorates of Administration dated 22.02.2005 and No. 5302.

iv. Traffic Controls in Rural Areas and Village Roads

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety in Rural Areas and Village 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 in rural areas and village roads,
  2. Targeting “Zero Loss of Life” while preparing 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. Performing controls to eliminate the threat posed by driving without a driver’s license, registration, or registration plate in rural areas and village roads,
  5. Performing breath tests by pulling over all suspected vehicles to prevent the habit of driving under the influence of alcohol in village roads and targeting the control of at least one-fifth of all registered vehicles in that region annually,
  6. Performing controls to eliminate the habit of riding a non-registered motorcycle or registration plate in village roads, and performing controls on the conformity of the plate to standards and its visibility in ones with registration plates,
  7. Performing mobile and fixed controls over drivers to ensure maximum caution and attention is shown to other road users when vehicles such as tractors and construction machines use the highway,
  8. Performing the necessary controls on-site to ensure that vehicles such as tractor and construction machines are visible by other drivers while using the highway,
  9. Ensuring the elimination of physical problems such as subsidence and cleavage in road structure and environmental factors happening in the road parameter and jeopardizing the road users by performing the routine controls of village roads and roads in rural areas.

TRAFFIC CONTROLS IN RURAL AREAS

v. Traffic Controls In Intracity Avenues And Streets

The effectuation of “a sustainable development plan targeting the transformation of cities and residential areas into inclusive, safe, enduring, and sustainable places by creating sustainable cities and communities” is suggested in the goal No. 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN concerning the urban life quality directly amongst others. Priorities being important in creating the urban life quality such as general access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spheres especially for women, children, elderly people, and persons with disabilities, accessibility to public utilities, sustainable transportation, affordable housing offers, enhancement of air and environment quality, and protection of natural and cultural heritage are amongst the sub-goals in accordance with this goal.

Rapid urbanization along with the population growth in Turkey and the transportation problems in consequence, and the increase in the number of vehicles and drivers have brought along the traffic problem, and it is deemed suitable to make efforts on;226

  1. Public transportation services,
  2. Regulations for persons with disabilities,
  3. Pedestrian ways and crossings,
  4. Bicycle lanes,
  5. Pedestrianization,
  6. Parking lots-areas,
  7. School service and personnel vehicles,
  8. Restrictions on transportation and vehicle types,
  9. Roadworks over road structure and roadsides,
  10. Infrastructure, road and traffic signs,
  11. District bazaars, showrooms, peddlers, etc. commercial activities and
  12. Traffic violations

fields to generate solutions for the urban traffic problems in question.227

During the examination of the causes regarding traffic accidents, involving vulnerable road users, happening in the city in the efforts made by the Ministry of Interior, the following were identified:

  • The pedestrians violated basic traffic rules such as rushing the road, crossing in front of and behind stopping vehicles, playing in the middle of the road, and crossing when it changes to red,
  • The drivers didn’t follow the rules identified in the Road Traffic Law such as not giving the pedestrians the right of way,227 speeding in pedestrian crossings and committing red light and lane violations.

TRAFFIC CONTROLS IN INTRACITY AVENUES AND STREETS

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

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Taking and effectively applying physical measures (Road Surface Speed Control Elements-Bumps-Ramps) in line with standards through horizontal and vertical signing to ensure compliance to safe speed limits on roads in places with large numbers of schools, hospitals, and malls by carefully evaluating the results on road, traffic condition, and traffic accidents of cities,
  2. Performing controls to prevent accidents through electronic systems by analysing the causes of intracity accidents in accident black spots,
  3. Ensuring the compliance to intracity speed limits with the radar equipment in line with the traffic control programmes and getting the drivers adopt the habit of complying with the right of way of pedestrians,
  4. The uncontrolled pedestrians crossings built with frequent intervals over boulevards and avenues to be inspected by responsible organizations in terms of the maintenance and repair of the road,
  5. Placing the necessary horizontal and vertical visual signing to attract the attention of drivers in pedestrian crossings over uncontrolled intersections,
  6. Increasing the effectiveness of training and control activities on the use of pedestrian crossings by pedestrians while crossing the street,
  7. Assigning sufficient number of staff (pedestrian, motorized, and traffic unit) in important routes and intersections where pedestrian accidents happen frequently,
  8. Preventing the vehicles from parking close to and inside intersections, in front of traffic signs, sign boards, and lights, pedestrian and school crossings, pavements, disabled access ramps, and bus stops,
  9. The public transport vehicles to be disallowed to pick up and drop off passengers except for determined routes and stops determined.

 

d. Traffic Controls with “Electronic Systems” as part of the Safe System Approach

Electronic Control Systems constitute another fields regarding the application of “Control” activities being one of the basic functions in ensuring traffic safety as part of the Safe System Approach and the achievement of more reliable results, and the realization of efforts requiring human labour and taking longer times is ensured by eliminating human-induced errors through the establishment of these systems.

Electronic Controls Systems are “fixed and mobile control systems consisting of a set of electronic, digital device or devices used to ensure traffic order and safety on roads, and identify traffic violations”.229

A serious decrease was ensured in average speed and injuries and fatality rates due to speeding after the 1990s when the speed cameras and red-light cameras were started to be used systematically in traffic controls, and the decrease in the fatality rate was 35%. The speed control cameras were found230 to have decreased all accidents by 19%, accidents involving injury by 17%, and accidents involving death by 17% in a study performed in 1997, and consistent results were obtained with percentage changes in the studies performed in the following years.231

Table: The Effect of Electronic Control Systems on Traffic Accidents

 

The ratio of Percentage Change of Accidents

Leve

 

Type of Accidents

 

Average Ratio of Change

 

Confidence Interval (%95)

All

All

-19

(-20; - 18)

Loss of Life

All

-17

(-19; - 16)

All

Residential area accidents

-28

(-31; -26)

All

Accidents outside residential areas

-4

(-6; - 2)

 

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.

 

i. Traffic Controls Through the City Safety Management System

Electronic Control Systems were developed to ensure the control of a maximum area, in terms of size, in all time periods by using fewer human resources. These systems, used in developed countries and providing an effective solution for the traffic problem, are established in various parts of Turkey and perform controls.

Putting into use the Electronic Control Systems (ECS) in traffic controls is accepted as an effective method in calming the traffic and preventing traffic accidents by ensuring that road users drive their vehicles within legal speed limits.

City Safety Management Systems (KGYS) are the systems that have been established and operated following the Article 11/h of the Law for Provincial Administration No. 5442 with the objectives of protecting the safety of life and property of persons through public order and safety, preventing committing an offence, and ensuring traffic safety and control in public domains such as roads in squares, roads, avenues, streets, and parks.

City Safety Management Systems consist of;

  • screening systems and
  • License Plate Recognition Systems.

The establishments of the system were completed in 699 subprovinces and the efforts in 222 subprovinces continue within the City Safety Management System (KGYS) Project conducted together with the Department of Defence Industry.232

According to the “The Electronic Control Systems will be based on average speed controls rather than instantaneous speed control” measure No. 512.5 of the Presidential Annual Programme of 2020; it includes the objective that “The priority routes to b establish the Electronic Control System the average speed controls in national and provincial roads under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Highways were based on will be determined and the system will be put into practice in at least two routes to be determined”. Building speed corridors between License Plate Recognition (LPR) Systems were planned by using the available software and hardware of City Safety Management System (KGYS) and License Plate Recognition (LPR) Systems established by the Directorate General of Security over the national roads following this objective.

The works and activities were started by taking the Working Group Approval on 11.11.2019 for the Project Approval from the Directorate General and to conduct the works and activities of LPR-ECS. Along with transforming the corridor between the LPR points into Average Speed Corridors through putting into practice the LPR-ECS Project over national roads creating the main axles within the KGYS Project, it is considered that;

  1. Lowering the speed limits through average speed corridors over the main axles of national roads in east-west and north-south directions creating themain routes of Turkey in interprovincial freight and passenger transportation, a large part of which were transformed into divided roads along with the infrastructure regulations in the recent years, preventing loss of lives and property, reducing the socio-economic expenses due to traffic accidents, reducing the environmental noise and harmful emission, and less damage to infrastructure system will be ensured,
  2. High-level socio-economic benefit and added value will return to Turkey with low expenses, for the License Plate Recognition (LPR) Systems under the city Safety Management System with vital importance in terms of our national safety and the proper performance of safety and security services, established with the current budgetary possibilities and showing prevalence across the country,
  3. The controls based on labour force can be proportionately reduced, and the errors caused by the human factor encountered in the practice can be eliminated with the use of technological methods in controls.

.

The locational efforts were started as a priority in Ankara and the locations of the current LPRs were identified. within the project. Accordingly, their expansion across the country will be ensured following the test and trial runs with 12 Average Speed Corridors

Traffic Enforcment With City Safety Management System (KGYS)

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to ensuring Traffic Safety By Performing Traffic Controls with the City Safety Management System (KGYS)

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Building “Average Speed Corridors” by using the KGYS subcomponents over the national roads in east-west and north-south directions forming the main routes of Turkey in interprovincial freight and passenger transportation and a large part of which were transformed into divided roads through infrastructure regulations in the recent years,
  2. Promoting the Electronic Control System and Average Speed Corridor practice in intercity roads,
  3. Performing controls over drivers by using the KGYS and subcomponents in uncontrolled intersections and pedestrian/school crossings, where the pedestrian accidents frequently happen.

 

ii. Traffic Controls with the Electronic Control Systems within the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law

The municipalities were granted the authorization to establish “Electronic Control Systems (ECS)” within the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 published in the Official Gazette dated 25.02.2011. Referring to the aforesaid legal basis, Electronic Control Systems are established by municipalities based on the conditions stated in the article.

The Electronic Control Systems are established in the traffic area of responsibility of the police, in areas within the boundaries where there are municipal organizations and where the municipality sees service, and the average number of vehicles using the roads annually is predicated upon along with establishing these systems where the accidents happen frequently and contributing to the regulation of traffic by taking into account the number of registered drivers and vehicles, traffic accidents and their results in determining the provinces, subprovinces, and cities where these systems will be established.

The Rules and Procedures on the Implementation of the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 put into practice based the authorization granted in the law and the violations legally detected by the ECS established and operated in line with the annex Technical Requirements Document are imposed sanctions by the local police units and contributed to traffic safety.

According to this table, the speed controls performed by building average speed corridors have been effective between 12% to 56% both in the route where the system was established and the adjacent routes where the distance halo effect is observed towards decreasing in all traffic accidents.

29%, 35,9%, and 15,2% decrease happened in accidents involving death, in the number of deaths, and the number of injured respectively within a month between 01.07.2017 and 31.07.2017 when the Speedway Electronic Control Systems established in speedways as average speed corridors to avert the deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents.233 The Directorate General of Highways identified a 26% increase in the number of vehicles passing the highway.

A decrease of 19% in the number of accidents and 26% decrease in the number of loss of lives was observed when comparing the first year and the following one year after the establishment of the systems (1 July 2017 - 30 June 2018 and 1 July 2018 - 30 June 2019).

TRAFFIC CONTROLS WITH SPEEDWAY ELECTRONIC CONTROL SYSTEMS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to ensuring traffic safety by performing controls with the Speedway Electronic Control Systems

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Ensuring the establishment of Electronic Control Systems, established in available speedways according to the Average Speed Violation Detection System, in all speedways put into operation, whose construction has been completed according to the Build-Operate-Transfer model,
  2. Making collaborative efforts with the institution responsible for the maintenance and repair of the road to keep the systems constant, open, and operating in ensuring the traffic safety of Average Speed Violation Detection Systems already established in speedways.

 

iii. Traffic Controls with the Electronic Control Systems within the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law

2

The municipalities were granted the authorization to establish “Electronic Control Systems (ECS)” within the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 published in the Official Gazette dated 25.02.2011. Referring to the aforesaid legal basis, Electronic Control Systems are established by municipalities based on the conditions stated in the article.

The Electronic Control Systems are established in the traffic area of responsibility of the police, in areas within the boundaries where there are municipal organizations and where the municipality sees service, and the average number of vehicles using the roads annually is predicated upon along with establishing these systems where the accidents happen frequently and contributing to the regulation of traffic by taking into account the number of registered drivers and vehicles, traffic accidents and their results in determining the provinces, subprovinces, and cities where these systems will be established.

The Rules and Procedures on the Implementation of the Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 put into practice based the authorization granted in the law and the violations legally detected by the ECS established and operated in line with the annex Technical Requirements Document are imposed sanctions by the local police units and contributed to traffic safety.

TRAFFIC CONTROLS WITH THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL SYSTEMS WITHIN THE ANNEX ARTICLE 16 OF THE ROAD TRAFFIC LAW NO. 2918

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety by Increasing the Efficiency of Electronic Enforcement Systems within the Scope of Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Increasing the “Perceived Risk of Being Caught” by conducting effective enforcement with Electronic Enforcement Systems,
  2. Basing on the enforcements made with the “average speed detection system” instead of “instantaneous speed detection” in Electronic Enforcement Systems,
  3. Establishment of Electronic Enforcement Systems as a priority in areas where injury and death traffic accidents are concentrated,
  4. Updating the procedures and principles and technical requirements document created within the scope of Annex Article 16 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, according to developing technologies and conditions,
  5. Placing horizontal and vertical signs on roads where Electronic Enforcement Systems are installed, in order to inform drivers beforehand that average speed control is being carried out.

 

 

e. Traffic Controls With “Aircrafts“ as part of the SAfe System Approach

The aerial traffic controls lead the control methods along with the adaptation of technical and technological advancements. The “aerial traffic controls” are performed mainly through using helicopters and drones in the mornings, in the evenings, the beginning and end of shifts, and different days of the week, when there is heavy traffic in the city , especially in intersections and roads with extensive traffic to strengthen the perceived risk of being caught for drivers and prevent disorderly and wrong use of lanes, stopping at an inappropriate place with the vehicle, and violations such as overtaking rules, stopping and parking improperly.

Controls are performed to prevent such violations as stopping in the right lane or on the shoulder, the disorderly use of lanes by heavy vehicles, dangerous lane change, weaving in and out of the traffic, red light violations, using a cell phone, not using seatbelts, tailgating, stopping/parking in intercity roads with the aerial traffic controls.

i. Helikopter ile Trafik Denetimi

Using helicopters in traffic controls isn’t a new practice and their use in the traffic controls have been promoted in the last couple of years as target-oriented and regularly. The helicopters used in traffic controls are not only effective in decreasing traffic accidents but it also ensures flexible intervention capacity in emergencies.

In a report published in the USA in 2019; it is stated that there are 899 aircrafts in the law enforcement units, 604 of which are helicopters, and that 47% the helicopters constituting around two-thirds of these aircraft are used in aerial traffic controls and the speed controls are performed in around 40% of their flight times.234

Another report235 indicates that the helicopters used for traffic control fly an average of 1350 hours annually and intervene around 200-250 traffic accidents every year. Other reports prepared by international organizations recommend the promotion of traffic controls with helicopters.

TRAFFIC CONTROLS WITH HELICOPTERS

OBJECTIVES AND AIMS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety with Effective, Continuous and Intensive Helicopter Inspections

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Carrying out aerial controls to prevent violations of safety lanes/banks, vehicles especially heavy tonnage vehicles that stop on the lane, park, and do not comply with the lane monitoring and changing rules on roads and urban roads,
  2. Increasing traffic controls by helicopters, especially on roads and urban state highways, on routes where freight and passenger transport is intensive,
  3. Increasing the annual flight time by expanding the number of provinces and routes where air traffic control is carried out.
 

 

 

 

ii. Traffic Controls with Drone/UAV

A great number of technological innovations are put into use in traffic controls every year. The drones developed for traffic controls serve as a model for such a solution. The traffic drones can be effectively used in identifying the drivers demonstating high-risk driver behaviour, recording and imposing a sanction for this behaviour, and even discouraging the driver from this risky behaviour by pulling them over through light and audible warning in case of dangerous violations such as the excessive and under speed with additional technological solutions.237 The vehicles with radar detector are slowed down by themselves in road sections where accidents happen frequently by sending radar signals over the route with drones in some countries where the radar detectors aren’t forbidden, although there are other countries where the speed controls are performed through the radar installed over drones.238

Violations except for speed controls such as red light, drifting, cell phone use, not using either a seatbelt or protective equipment, not wearing helmet while riding a motorcycle are also detected using drones.

Another area the drones can be used is to secure the surrounding of the traffic police while performing the traffic control or to ensure the safety of the assigned staff in the control by identifying the vehicles approaching the control point inattentively and extremely fast in advance.

ii. Traffic Controls with Drone/UAV

TRAFFIC CONTROLS WITH DRONE/UAV

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensuring Traffic Safety By Performing Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Drone/UAV Controls

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Increasing the number of controls using drones especially in identifying violations such as the violation of overtaking and lane-keeping rules, and stopping and parking except for emergencies in road sections of intercity roads with high risk,
  2. Increasing the number of provinces and routes where the traffic controls are performed using drones, and their flight times,
  3. Performing traffic controls using Drone/UAV to identify violations such as red light, drifting, cell phone use, not using a seatbelt and other protective equipment, and not wearing helmet on a motorcycle.

 

 

f. Traffic Controls with “In-Vehicle Systems” as part of the Safe System Approach

When examining the international efforts on traffic control methods, it is seen that there are three different traffic police control methods aiming at changing driver behaviours such as classical control (the one performed by traffic units), controls through electronic systems, and in-vehicle equipment.

In-vehicle systems are technological practices that facilitate or increase the driver adaptation to traffic rules. Some in-vehicle systems were designed suitable for using integrated with the Intelligent Transportation Systems. These systems serve the purpose of reducing the potential of traffic accidents by informing the vehicle and the driver of the environmental conditions.

There are systems such as Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), Following Distance Warning System, Seatbelt Warning System, Rear-End Collision Warning System, and Adaptive Cruise Control System (ACC) amongst the in-vehicle intelligent systems as well as the tachograph and in-vehicle camera systems. All of these systems aim at preventing at least one or several of these risky driver behaviours. The use of some of these systems is possible in traffic controls as well as their development and diversification as part of technical and technological advancements.

i. Tachograph Control

Mechanical tachographs record speed, total travel distance, stopping and standing, and relaxation periods of the vehicle over a certain type of paper form and are still used by professional drivers in several countries. The police and fleet management companies perform controls to identify whether the average speed, overspeeding and relaxation periods are complied with. Their reliability is open to discussion due to their potential of being manipulated.

The electronic tachographs have been started to be used in commercial vehicles increasingly. They are used to identify the speed and whether the working and relaxation periods are followed. They become more preferable since their reliability is higher and they are open to digital information transfer and control.

Studies demonstrate that the digital tachographs are around 20-30% effective in decreasing traffic accidents and the use of electronic tachographs are compulsory for vehicles carrying more than 3,5 tons of freight and the ones transporting more than 9 passengers.239

The presence of digital tachographs is compulsory in vehicles performing transportation in the country as of 30.06.2014 and having to use tachographs to take the road for the first time after being registered, and the ones 1996 model or after to be installed tachograph for the first time.

Again, it is compulsory for the analogue tachographs used in vehicles being a 1996 model or after to be replaced by digital tachographs before the first vehicle inspection as part of the calendar specified below. Accordingly;

  • 1996-1998 model vehicles should modernize their tachographs with digital ones by 31.12.2015,
  • 1999-2001 model vehicles by 31.12.2016,
  • 2002-2004 model vehicles by 31.12.2017,
  • 2005-2007 model vehicles by 31.12.2018,
  • And the ones from 2008 and after by 31.12.2019.

However, the obligation to replace the analogue or electronic tachographs in vehicles with a model from 2008 and after by digital tachographs was imposed to be ensured before the first vehicle inspection after 01.10.2020 along with the amendment made in the Tachograph Inspection and Stamping Regulation of the Ministry of Industry and Technology.

Criminal action is taken from the Articles 31 and 49 specified in Road Traffic Law on Tachographs:

  • The drivers not having, using, or having present to use tachographs in trucks, towing trucks, and buses within Article 31/1-b,
  • The persons mediating towards the breakdown of tachographs and using these devices in their vehicles within Article 31/2,the driver, owner, manager, and enterprise are individually imposed administrative sanctions in case they drive or made drive against the periods they have, to drive the vehicle.
  •  

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Ensur-ing Traffic Safety Through Effective, Consistent, and Intensive Tachograph Controls

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Making the use of digital tachographs obligatory without delay and without discriminating between vehicles to identify the speed, overspeeding, and compliance of vehicles transporting freight and passengers with working and relaxation periods,
  2. Performing the controls by ensuring the establishment of systems enabling the responsible unit to follow up based on person, company, and vehicle by opening it to the access and follow-up of;

    i. Traffic police in terms of identifying whether speed and period violations are committed,

    ii. Occupational health and safety, responsible units, and relevant social security units in terms of identifying whether the working and relaxation periods are followed,

    iii. Relevant transportation units in terms of route use and the follow-up of freight and passenger activities,

    iv. And other units considered to be associated with relevant finance unit in terms of tax tracking.

 

 

ii. Traffic Controls with in-vehicle Camera System

The cameras being a part of our daily life have also been used as in-vehicle systems along with the camera and image systems that are being enhanced technologically and acquiring more developed qualifications today. There are country practices ensuring their utilization in many fields especially in traffic safety by making the in-vehicle camera systems obligatory.

The in-vehicle cameras used in private vehicles progress according to the market conditions in accordance with the demands of the vehicle owner. However, the use in-vehicle camera systems and GPS-type geographical location systems in vehicles performing commercial freight and passenger transportation or transportation as public service increases their safety, ensures the conformity of the behaviours of the driver and other persons in these vehicles with the traffic rules in terms of traffic safety, and assists in gathering evidence in accidents happening and identifying the faulty party.

The use of such camera systems with GPS-type geographical positioning systems has numerous benefits, which are:

  • Mapping areas with traffic density,
  • Identifying the traffic violations,
  • Ensuring the follow-up of compulsory route practice,
  • Identifying the unplanned stopping and standing of drivers travelling alone,
  • Identifying the location of drivers who cannot be heard from after having an accident,
  • Identifying the average speeds of vehicles,
  • Ensuring the compliance of driver behaviours with rules in vehicles performing public transportation,
  • And preventing unfair complaints against the driver.

Furthermore, according to some scientific efforts made,240 the identification of whether the driver is tired, restless, angry, or distracted and their suitability for driving have also been possible along with the combined use of in-vehicle camera systems with other equipment. The use of in-vehicle camera systems performing commercial freight and passenger transportation is important in terms of setting up a substructure for practices such as “sleep detector” believed to be developed in the following period.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Traffic Safety with In-Vehicle Camera Systems

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Making in-vehicle camera systems mandatory for vehicles carrying cargo and passengers for commercial purposes, and detecting violations of the rules from the recordings made by these cameras,
  2. Preventing violations of rules by strengthening the perceived risk of being caught for all commercial vehicle drivers by popularizing the use of in-vehicle cameras,
  3. Enabling that accident analysis and fault detection made more healthily and necessary measures taken after a possible traffic accident.
 

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

There systems such as Event Data Records, Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), Following Distance Warning System, Seatbelt Warning System, and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System are amongst the in-vehicle intelligent systems. All these systems aim at preventing one or more of the risky driver behaviours.

However, some of these systems can be used for the control of driver behaviours. Alcolocks and event data recorders are the most important in-vehicles systems performing controls.

Alcolocks are systems that prevent the engine of the vehicle from starting if the driver drank alcohol over the determined alcohol limit through a blowing apparatus measuring the alcohol level of the driver by exhaling, attached to the ignition key of the vehicle and similar to alcoholmeters. There are mainly two programmes run to prevent driving under the influence of alcohol and the first programme type is the use of in-vehicle alcolocks to eliminate the habit of traffic violations of drivers identified to have driven a vehicle under the influence of alcohol before. These programmes are mounted in the vehicles of drivers whose driver’s licenses have been temporarily taken from them and it even goes down to the decertification of the license in case the driver attempts to drive under the influence of alcohol. They are used for drivers performing commercial freight and passenger transportation in some countries. Amongst them are professional drivers and public transportation vehicles, buses, children/school service vehicle drivers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, and the drivers of the vehicles carrying hazardous materials.241

Event Data Recorder (EDR) devices are devices recording reliable and instantaneous data on the performance and activity of the vehicle, and in other words, they have the feature of a “black box” in vehicles.

The event data recorders are devices that can record the event data a certain while before (seconds) and a certain while after (seconds) the accident and are mounted in the vehicles. The event data recorders ensure a clear understanding of how the accident happened by recording the;

  • pre-accident vehicle dynamic and system status,
  • driver information,
  • accident data,
  • the use of protective measures before the accident,
  • and post-accident data.

The event data recorders don’t record sound and video continuously, they are automatically activated by analysing the alarm indicators on accident.242

According to the research conducted, it is considered that the event data recorders are 20% effective in preventing traffic accidents and their use will increase as part of the technological developments.243

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

TRAFFIC CONTROL WITH ALCOHOL LOCKS (ALCOLOCK) AND EVENT DATA RECORDERS (EDR) AND SIMILAR IN-VEHICLE SYSTEMS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Traffic Safety in Traffic Controls Made with In-Vehicle Systems such as Alcohol Locks (Alcolock) and Event Data Recorders (EDR)

  1. Carrying out necessary studies in order to carry out traffic control by means of alcohol locks (alcolocks) and event data recorders (EDR) and similar in-vehicle systems,
  2. Making the use of in-vehicle alcohol locks mandatory for drivers who repeatedly drive under the influence of alcohol.
  3. Establishing the legal basis of alcohol locks and event data recorders and making technical requirements standards ready,
  4. Making the necessary arrangements for the use of alcohol locks in commercial vehicles in the short term and subsequently in all vehicles.
 

 

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

Traffic controls focus on reducing the risk of exposure to accidents, preventing accidents, and reducing the degree of damage caused by unavoidable accidents. Audit activities cover safety regulations, vehicle, infrastructure and environmental design, determination and control of standards and control of traffic rules holistically. The control of compliance with these rules and regulations is supported by information and campaign activities as well as auditing activities.

 

While examining the contribution of “enforcement aid elements” to traffic safety within the framework of the safe system approach within the dimension of traffic enforcement, the following issues are discussed under the following headings:

i.             Voluntary Traffic Inspectors,

ii.            General Law Enforcement Officers,

iii.           Model Vehicles and Other Models of Enforcement Elements,

iv.           Evaluation of Notices and Complaints Regarding Traffic Safety.

i. The Contribution of Voluntary Traffic Inspectors to Traffic Safety

According to research conducted, the perceived risk of being caught is the most important control element in terms of ensuring the effectiveness of the control within the context of changing the road user behaviours. The effect of feeling that the ones committing an offence are caught as a social sanction power in the society is at a higher level than its effect caused by being caught.244

Voluntary Traffic Inspectorship was put into practice on 9 April 1966 to assist the traffic police as their duty in Article 5 of the Regulation on the Road Traffic Law No. 6085 and was carried out until 21.06.1971 regardless of certain forms and conditions.

It was put into effect on 21 June 1971 as the “Voluntary Traffic Inspectorship Directive” with the approval of Directorate General of Security and 873 voluntary traffic inspectors were assigned on 2 June 1972.

With respect to the provision of Annex Article 6 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, the voluntary traffic inspectorship organization based on voluntariness was organized to ensure traffic safety, assist the assigned personnel in control services, giving the feeling to the drivers that they are controlled every time and everywhere, and ensure their direct participation in controls and their duties, powers, and responsibilities were identified along with the “Voluntary Traffic Inspectorship Duties and Working Regulation” put into practice being published in the Official Gazette dated 01.05.1997 and No. 22976. 34,305 voluntary traffic inspectors carry out their duty as part of the practice put into effect in 1997.

The contribution of voluntary traffic inspectors to traffic safety is kept at the highest level by developing and keeping the “Perceived Risk of Being Caught” alive and creating the perception in drivers that they are controlled every time and everywhere other than traffic police with the voluntary traffic inspector practice being a part of control in minimizing loss of life and property by ensuring an orderly and safe traffic environment.

The Road Traffic Law states that persons seen fit can be assigned with the Voluntary Traffic Inspector duty by the governorships to assist the authorities (police and gendarmerie) being responsible for controlling whether the traffic rules are followed with the offer from the Directorate General of Security and the approval of the Ministry of Interior.

The voluntary traffic inspectors fulfil this duty completely based on the principle of volunteerism. They can take a statement down for the traffic violations they identified and deliver these statements to traffic units by hand or to the Directorate General of Security in electronic media in 7 days.

The voluntary traffic inspectors can carry out their duty to assist the police and gendarmerie being

responsible for controlling the compliance of drivers to traffic rules without space and time constraint and can present an opinion and make a suggestion. However, these inspectors aren’t entitled to pull over vehicles, deal with drivers, or control license and registration.

To become a Voluntary Traffic Inspector, one must be a Turkish citizen, at the age of 40, college graduate, has ten years of driver’s license, not have been taken criminal action against according to the Article 48 of the Law No. 2918 or decertified/disqualified of his/her driver’s license temporarily for any reason since the date it was issued, and banned from public services.

Persons who are willing to become a voluntary traffic inspector can apply to the provincial governorship their residential address is registered along with their T.R. identity number, address, phone, e-mail, declaration of having no criminal record, driver’s license, and 2 photos by filling in the Annex-4 form. Along with the amendment made in the Regulation on Voluntary Traffic Inspectorship Duty and Working, the duty of the inspectors whose traffic violation investigation report hasn’t been prepared for one year can be terminated with the proposal from the Directorate General of Security and the approval of the Ministry of Interior.

The Mobile Application prepared to deliver the traffic violations identified by voluntary traffic inspectors by organizing in electronic media with the legislative regulations and systematic software was brought into service for the use of voluntary traffic inspectors across the country as of 16 July 2019.

INCREASING THE CONTRIBUTION OF VOLUNTARY TRAFFIC INSPECTORS TO ENSURING TRAFFIC SAFETY

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Increasing the Contribution of Voluntary Traffic Inspectors and General Law Enforcement Officers to Ensuring Traffic Safety

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Creating the traffic culture by increasing the perceived risk of being caught on the compliance of the society to traffic rules,
  2. Informing the voluntary traffic inspectors of the statistical data on traffic accidents through communication channels such as SMS, e-mail, etc. and trying to increase their contributions,
  3. Increasing the quality of voluntary traffic inspectors through in-service trainings and ensuring that they contribute to traffic safety more,
  4. Preparing public service ads explaining the contribution of voluntary traffic inspectors on traffic safety at the national level.

ii. The Contribution of General Law Enforcement Officers to Traffic Safety

All law enforcement officers were authorized to file the “Traffic Violation Investigation Report” to drivers violation the traffic rules to encourage the use of seatbelts, prevent the drivers from using cell phones while driving, weaving in and out of the traffic, changing lanes in a way to endanger the traffic, and not following the lane-keeping rules and ensure compliance to these rules.

After the investigation reports prepared on the drivers violating the traffic rules are examined by all law enforcement officers, these reports are imposed administrative sanctions by the traffic officers and sent to the vehicle owners as a notification.

The entire law enforcement unit has taken part in an effective struggle process when concluding that the sole presence of traffic police will not be enough.

Authorizing all units to impose administrative sanction to faulty drivers or pedestrians without discriminating between traffic, police station, or preventive unit in Turkey as applied in several countries have both increased the deterrence of the police and their contribution on traffic safety by extending the scope of authority of traffic police lacking in number.

The Ministerial Notice No. 2012/62 was published to ensure the intervention of police assigned in the general administrative service cadre to drivers committing traffic violation alongside the traffic police and increase the effectiveness of law enforcement officers in the presence of citizens for the municipal police to prepare investigation reports on the traffic violations they encountered and ensure the compliance of drivers to rules in this regard based on the provision “staff in each rank from the security services class as preventive municipal police are authorized to intervene in incidents and crimes they come across in terms of traffic order and safety.” in Article 6 of the Road Traffic Law dated 13.10.1983 and No. 2918, and Article 7 of Road Traffic Regulation.

The Ministerial Directive dated 22.08.2019 and No. 142580 emphasizes the importance of concentrating on talking on the phone while driving, changing lanes in a way to endanger traffic, not wearing a seatbelt, and not giving the right of way to pedestrians being one of the main reasons of why accidents and loss of lives increase as well as endangering traffic safety in creating the perceived risk of being caught in drivers.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Increasing General Law Enforcement Offıcers’ Contrıbution to Traffıc Safety

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Adding the traffic rule violation detection training given to the general law enforcement to the basic traffic training curriculum given in law enforcement basic education institutions and providing these courses by traffic trainers,
  2. Conducting regular training of general law enforcement personnel in order to increase the contribution of the authority to issue a “Traffic Rule Violation Detection Report” to traffic safety,
  3. Development of the mobile application developed for voluntary traffic inspectors also for general law enforcement officers.
 

 

iii. The Contribution of Model Traffic Police Cars/Officers and Other Model Enforcment Elements 

The basic idea behind an effective police control must be to increase the perceived risk of being caught, for which there are several methods and amongst them are;245

  • Sufficiently announcing the traffic police controls to the public (through campaigns, press, and media, etc.),
  • Keeping the visibility of traffic controls high,
  • Promoting the randomly performed controls and creating the idea that the police is everywhere every time,
  • Performing target-oriented traffic controls (for a certain violation, for example; alcohol, speed control, etc.) in areas, times, and conditions when the potential of persons violating the rules being caught is high and when a certain type of violation cause a certain type of accidents,
  • Taking necessary measures to disable the road users from running away from controls and performing controls consistently.

Serious progress has been made in the context of placing model traffic unit vehicles on routes identified to have a high prevalence of accidents across the country to increase the visibility of traffic units and create awareness in drivers and preventing traffic accidents.

One of the new methods developed to increase visibility and raise awareness has been the model traffic unit vehicles. These vehicles have fulfilled the expectations and respectively 11%, 17,5%, 26,4% of decrease was ensured in the number of accidents, accidents involving death, and the loss of lives in these accidents in areas within a 3 km radius in 2019 when compared with 2018.

Several model traffic unit vehicle and model traffic police were placed on routes by the police and gendarmerie, and the relocation and update in the number of these models continue according to accident black spots.

Additionally, the efforts on increasing the perceived risk of being caught continue with other similar practices as well as the model traffic unit vehicles. One of the good examples of this practice is the specific deterrence-based model camera (empty camera box) practice used in other countries.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF MODEL TRAFFIC UNIT VEHICLES AND OTHER MODEL CONTROLLING ELEMENTS TO TRAFFIC SAFETY

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Contributing to Traffic Safety with the Use of Model Control Elements such as Model Traffic Unit Vehicles/Staff

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Updating the locations of the model traffic unit vehicles as part of the accident statistics and in a way to increase the perceived risk of being caught,
  2. Promoting the use of other model control elements with the model vehicles,
  3. Giving the model traffic unit vehicles the appearance of a radar vehicle by installing speed cameras.

iv. Evaluation of Notice and Complaints on Traffic Safety, and Identification of Violation

The staff assigned in traffic controls don’t always have the means to perform controls every time and everywhere. One of the principal conditions of creating behavioural change in road users related to complying the traffic rules is strengthening the Perceived Risk of Being Caught and giving the impression that the traffic rules are controlled by the government every time and everywhere. Thus, the positive change of traffic culture can be ensured as a result of effective, consistent, and intensive control activities.

One of the important elements of affecting the road user behaviours towards compliance is, ensuring the notification of traffic violations witnessed to relevant units. However, in the retroactive research of traffic violations, difficulties are experienced due to such reasons as;

  • Generally taking place due to the same actions,
  • Starting from ending at a certain place for a short while,
  • Being open to malevolent notification attempts,
  • Legislative restrictions and eventually traffic violations causing misdemeanour actions,
  • And mentioned in the retroactive research differing from the authorizations granted for reasons such as the protection of personal data and protection of rights and freedoms.

Consequently, the retroactive notices and complaints cannot be evaluated. Therefore, it is crucial to make necessary regulations to ensure that citizens witnessing any traffic violation can notify it and be able to impose administrative sanctions on the ones attested after investigating whether these notices reflect the truth.

iv. Evaluation of Notice and Complaints on Traffic Safety, and Identification of Violation

EVALUATION OF NOTICE AND COMPLAINTS OF TRAFFIC SAFETY, AND IDENTIFICATION OF VIOLATION

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE: Strengthening the Research Capacity of the Traffic Police on Traffic Rule Notice and Complaints

GUIDING STRATEGIES AND SUGGESTIONS

  1. Making necessary regulations to ensure that citizens witnessing any traffic violation can notify it and be able to impose administrative sanctions on the ones attested after investigating whether these notices reflect the truth.

 

STRATEGY PAPER

  • Preface
  • Executive Summary
  • 1.Situation Assessment
  • 2.Our Traffic Safety Mission
  • 3.Our Traffic Safety Vision
  • 4.Guidelines
  • 5.Core Values
  • 6.Method and Procedure
  • 7.Measures to be taken and works to be done
    • Priority Areas/Speed
    • Priority Areas/Vulnerable Road Users
    • Priority Areas/Accident Blackspots
    • Intervention Areas/Management
    • Intervention Areas/Infrastructre
    • Intervention Areas/Vehicles
    • Intervention Areas/Education
    • Intervention Areas/Enforcement
    • Intervention Areas / Post Accident
  • 8.The Future of Traffic Safety
  • 9.Measurement and Evaluation
  • 10.Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators
  • 11.References

ACTION PLAN

  • 1.Priority Areas
    • Overspeed
    • Vulnerable Road Users
    • Improvement of Accident Blackspots
  • 2.Fields to be Intervened
    • Traffic Safety Management
    • Infrastructure:Road and Road Environment
    • Vehicles
    • Educations for Road Users
    • Traffic Enforcement Activities
    • Post-Accident Response, Care and Rehabilition

INSTITUTIONAL

  • Cooperation Board
  • Monitoring and Implementation Board
  • Expert Groups
  • Stakeholder Institutions Publications
  • Legislation
    • Presidential Circular
    • Ministry Order
    • Procedures and Principles
  • Organizational Structure
  • Frequently Asked Questions

CURRENT

  • Development and Progress
  • News
  • Announcements

PUBLICATIONS

  • United Nations
    • Declarations
    • WHO
    • UNRSTF
    • GRSF
    • UNCTAD
    • GRSP
  • European Union
    • European Commission
    • ERSO
    • ETSC
  • Other Countries
  • Other International Organizations
  • Stakeholder Publications
  • Books, Articles, Researches

CONTACT

  • STRATEGY PAPER
    • Preface
    • Executive Summary
    • 1.Situation Assessment
    • 2.Our Traffic Safety Mission
    • 3.Our Traffic Safety Vision
    • 4.Guidelines
    • 5.Core Values
    • 6.Method and Procedure
    • 7.Measures to be taken and works to be done
      • Priority Areas/Speed
      • Priority Areas/Vulnerable Road Users
      • Priority Areas/Accident Blackspots
      • Intervention Areas/Management
      • Intervention Areas/Infrastructre
      • Intervention Areas/Vehicles
      • Intervention Areas/Education
      • Intervention Areas/Enforcement
      • Intervention Areas / Post Accident
    • 8.The Future of Traffic Safety
    • 9.Measurement and Evaluation
    • 10.Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators
    • 11.References
  • ACTION PLAN
    • 1.Priority Areas
      • Overspeed
      • Vulnerable Road Users
      • Improvement of Accident Blackspots
    • 2.Fields to be Intervened
      • Traffic Safety Management
      • Infrastructure:Road and Road Environment
      • Vehicles
      • Educations for Road Users
      • Traffic Enforcement Activities
      • Post-Accident Response, Care and Rehabilition
  • INSTITUTIONAL
    • Cooperation Board
    • Monitoring and Implementation Board
    • Expert Groups
    • Stakeholder Institutions Publications
    • Legislation
      • Presidential Circular
      • Ministry Order
      • Procedures and Principles
    • Organizational Structure
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • CURRENT
    • Development and Progress
    • News
    • Announcements
  • PUBLICATIONS
    • United Nations
      • Declarations
      • WHO
      • UNRSTF
      • GRSF
      • UNCTAD
      • GRSP
    • European Union
      • European Commission
      • ERSO
      • ETSC
    • Other Countries
    • Other International Organizations
    • Stakeholder Publications
    • Books, Articles, Researches
  • CONTACT

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