1. TRAFFIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT

Achieving strategic objectives is under the joint responsibility of all stakeholders.

To achieve the traffic safety objectives, we need an objective-oriented leadership, strong cooperation, strong management, and the collective work of the society. The analysis of traffic safety, understanding the progress made, solution of the problems arising, and determining new objectives will be properly ensured through a well-organized information-sharing between the stakeholder ministries, institutions, and organizations.

An effective traffic safety management necessitates effective system management because traffic safety management is primarily system management. Highway safety system requires the collaborative efforts of several units at a local and national level. The common denominator for all stakeholder institutions should be to follow the Safe System Approach in the decision-making mechanism of institutions and fulfilling the duties they were allocated pertinent to the objectives of traffic safety.

Effective leadership and the coordination ensured between the stakeholders are of great importance for a well-functioning system.

International efforts refer to the importance of leadership and the coordination between stakeholder institutions to implement an effective traffic safety strategy. One can see that the change to be adopted in traffic safety is protected and different society sections and stakeholder institution come together for the same purpose in countries developing in terms of traffic safety.

Everyone working in the field of traffic safety should know what is tried to be achieved with traffic safety, believe in this objective, and become a part of the change. Another method appealed to for this purpose is to ensure the establishment of the structure and sufficient allocation of resources to put into practice this strategy at central management and local administrations.

It is necessary to explain the importance of traffic safety to society better and receive their support.

It is considered that people are sensitive in terms of traffic safety, they will notice the importance of the priority on traffic safety when explained adequately, yet the fact that the criminal or financial consequences of traffic rules are hard to accept by people isn’t overlooked. Therefore, it is necessary to make an effort on and invest in the works to be performed to explain the traffic safety risks to the society, and it doesn’t seem possible to achieve the traffic safety objective without the support of the management and society.

The division of responsibility in traffic safety is only possible through developing a common understanding with all stakeholders as a priority. It is necessary to firstly develop a new common understanding in the presence of stakeholder ministries, institutions, and organizations due to the complex structure of traffic problem and to generate solutions. Moreover, it is necessary to discuss the traffic problem amongst society and develop common solutions to explain the objective and vision put forth with the 2021-2030 Traffic Safety Strategy Paper.

It is necessary to improve the achievement made in the field of traffic safety in recent years.

One should know of the steps taken and results obtained for the ones in the decision-making mechanism to make the right decisions and explain the justifiability of these decisions to the society. For this reason, it is necessary to collect accurate and quality information with each stage of traffic safety, to follow the developments in the field of traffic safety, especially the ones in the social and technological fields, and use these for traffic safety.

The central organizations of stakeholder institutions need to share the data sets explaining the aspects of their field of duty associated with traffic safety, the accurate, suitable for analysis, and comparable best practices in terms of traffic safety, and how to solve which problems to the relevant local units and extents and with their subunits.

It is necessary to measure the effectiveness of measures taken so far and the measures and interventions to be taken henceforward.

There is a need for developing interventions and measures leading to accurate conclusions from the experiences gained so far, and commonly implementing in line with the assessment and evaluation. The planning of new measures to be taken should be ensured with the evaluation of effort made in each field.

As explained in detail in the chapter allocated to assessment and evaluation of the Strategy Paper, basing the decisions on data and analyses albeit planning new measures according to the results attained will increase the strength of the management.

Performing data and analysis makes a big contribution in directing investments to proper fields and strengthening accountability. Data regularly explained to the public helps the society to adopt the strategic objectives and the supervision of whether these objectives are achieved.

The intervention method and speed in traffic accidents and the methods followed up after the intervention ensure that the victims stay alive.

Interventions made on traffic accidents ensure the prevention of loss of live and permanent injury of persons involving in the accident. One of the important focus points of the 2021-2030 Traffic Safety Strategy Paper is the post-accident interventions to decrease the post-accident loss of lives.

Performing effective interventions in traffic accidents necessitate the collaborative work of more than one institutions and organizations. The process starting with the notification of traffic accident to be received in a way to predict the first glance of a traffic accident, its severity, and what kind of intervention is required with a professional approach requires the coordinated intervention of ambulance, emergency rescue, fire department, and police teams. Performing life-saving intervention on site of the accident then the victims of accident clinging to life, transported to the treatment unit with sufficient equipment and speciality as soon as possible depending on the consistent organization of these steps.

The healthy functioning of the system established in this field containing the post-accident intervention, treatment, care, and rehabilitation stages depends on the integrity of the chain mechanism.

Within the frame of the Safe System Approach, according to the Road Traffic Safety Management System diagram developed by experts as a result of the efforts made by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, performing controls, in the planning of road network, its design and management, in stages where the road users and vehicles enter and exit the road network, and the treatment and rehabilitation stages of victims by not being limited to the traffic controls conducted by traffic units, is considered necessary to provide a safe traffic system.

 

Figure: Road Traffic Safety Management System

The safe system approach, in short, is the formation of all elements of the traffic system such as the road, vehicle, and legal regulations constituting the traffic according to the weaknesses and strengths of human, and people to act in line with the rules put into force and arrangements made to protect them.

As such, the following elements of effective traffic safety management were discussed in this section:

a. Legislation

b. Organizational Structure

c. Staff

d. Training

e. Tools, Equipment and Materials

f. Strategic Efforts and Budget

g. Data Collection, Analysis, and Evaluation

h. Accident Investigation

i. Relations with Non-Governmental Organizations

j. Collaboration, Coordination, and International Efforts.

 

 

a. Legislation

The safe system approach, briefly, is the protection of human by being taken into the centre of the traffic safety system. The legislation is set forth as the relevant legal instruments determining the legal roles, responsibilities, accountabilities, and interventions of institutions, and their relevant institutional management functions to achieve the expected result-oriented approach.66

Ensuring traffic safety is possible through the provision of infrastructure services, emergency response and first-aid, post-accident rescue services, training, relevant legislation, regulation, and control services.

As such, paying attention to the following steps is important in the making of legislative amendments:67

• Performing institutional assessment on the issue identified,
• Reviewing the rules and regulations currently in effect,
• Filling the gaps in the rules and regulations currently in effect,
• Assessing the scope of the rules and regulations currently in effect,

It will be beneficial to pay regard to the following matters in legislative arrangements on road user behaviours:

• The rules to become controllable, understandable by road users, and suitable for their education levels,
• The rules to be applied for a long time, and not to be changed in short intervals to ensure that they have an impact on the traffic accidents, and lead to change in road user behaviours,
• The control of compliance to rules to be performed at a high level to ensure compliance to rules and strengthen the feeling of Perceived Risk of Being Caught,
• The penalty to be imposed without delay and effectively,
• The control of traffic rules to be performed according to a specific violation and in a specific geographical area for the prevention of traffic violations and effectiveness of control,
• To bear in mind that traffic control with technological methods is economically less costly,
• To pay regard to the matters that campaigns not supported by control lead to traffic violation contrary to expectations, there was an increase in the control ration of road users along with the campaigns, the observations lead to the change of behaviours,

otherwise didn’t have any effect.

Amendment Made in the Road Traffic Law in the Last Five Years

Amendments were made in Article 23 and 131 of the Road Traffic Law No 2918 with a Decree in the Provision of Law dated 29/10/2016 and No. 676. With the amendment made;

• Sanctions to be imposed on persons installing plates against the quality or sizes identified in the regulation, ones not installing stipulated the number of plates or making changes in their plates in a way to make them illegible or unreadable, and the ones using registered vehicles with no license plate on was increased,
• Administrative fines were imposed on persons installing fake plate or one that is registered to another vehicle and besides, it was stipulated to take action against these persons according to the provision of Article 204 of the Turkish Criminal Code.
• Administrative fines were imposed on persons printing or distributing printed papers and registration plates except the ones authorised and besides, it was stipulated to take action against these people according to the provision of Article 204 of the Turkish Criminal Code,

Amendments were made on Articles 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 32, 35, 81, 115, Annex 2, and Annex 18 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918 with the Decree-Law dated 06/01/2017 and No. 680, the Articles Annex 18, Temporary 23, and 24 were added to the Law. With the amendment made:

• The Motor Vehicle Traffic Paper was abolished, and the use of vehicle inspection report given by the vehicle inspection stations was started, and the inspection of vehicles belonging to the Turkish National Police, General Command of Gendarmerie, and Turkish Coast Guard Command were enabled to be performed by their own institutions.
• Regulations were made to not let vehicles with foreign license plates and their drivers go abroad without the traffic administrative fines imposed being collected, and to collect the traffic fines imposed to the foreign drivers using vehicles with Turkish plate from the owner of the vehicle the fine was imposed.
• The vehicle registrations performed by the Turkish National Police and procedures were stipulated to be assigned to Notary Offices under the coordinatorship of the Notaries Union of Turkey.

The Article 65/A was added to the Law under the Decree-Law dated 09/02/2017 and No. 687. The vehicles used in the passenger and

The Article 5/A was added to the Law with the Decree-Law dated 24/12/2017 and No. 696. The duties and authorities of General Command of Gendarmerie traffic agencies on traffic control and the central, regional, provincial, and subprovincial traffic agencies of the Turkish National Police were regulated in the Law in line with their duties and authorities with the amendment made.

Amendments were made in the Article 4, 35, 65, and 98 of the Decree-Law dated 02.07.2018 and No. 703 and the Law No. 2918 published in the Official Gazette with repeating number dated 09.07.2018 and No. 30473, and the Article Annex 19 was added to the Law. With the amendment made;

• The “Highway Safety High Council” disassembled with the amendment made in Article 4, and the decrees of the Road Traffic Safety Committee on its formation, assemblage, rules and procedures, decision-making modalities, secretariat, and the running of this committee by the Traffic Presidency Services were removed from the law text except for its name, duties and authorities
• The decree on “The References Made to the Highway Safety High Council and the Road Traffic Safety Committee in the Legislation, is taken into account as made to the committee or authority identified by the President” was constituted with the Additional Article 19 added to the Law.
• The “Cabinet” phrase included in the second paragraph of the Article 35 and the first paragraph of the Article 65/A of the Law No. 2918, and the “Cabinet upon resolution from the Ministry the Undersecretariat of Treasury is affiliated to” phrase in the second paragraph of the Article 98 of the aforesaid law was changed as “The President”, due to the movement into the Presidential Government System in Turkey.

Amendments were made in the Law dated 18.10.2018 and No. 2918 published in the Official Gazette dated 26.10.2018 and No.30577, and the Article7, 21, 26, 32,34, 46, 47, 52, 67, 68, 73,74, and Annex 2 of the Law No. 2918. In the amendment made;

• The officers of the Directorate General of Highways was given the authority to control the vehicles in terms of run-rest time and tachograph,
• The use of scrap vehicles was forbidden in the highways,
• The penalties to be imposed on vehicles with expired examination period or given unsafe vehicle report were increased,
• Sanctions on violations such as hard shoulder violation – entering the opposite lane – making multiple lane changes (slalom), spinning out, circling around while en route were imposed,
• Speed violation fines were graded as “from 10% to 30% - 30% to 50%,
• The first right of way was given to pedestrians in intersection entrances and exits determined with traffic signs and signalizations but without an assigned officer or lighted traffic signs by transitioning to the pedestrian-priority traffic approach,
• The sanctions on the red light violation, using cell phone/car phone and similar communication devices while driving, the use of lighted and/or vocal devices such as blinkers, lamps, siren, etc. except for the ones identified in the regulation, use of too noisy vehicles (overt exhaust), and unlicensed (illicit) transport were increased.

3 new subclauses were added to the first paragraph of Article 7 of the Law 2918 with the Law dated 29.11.2018 and No. 7153 published in the Official Gazette dated 10.12.2018 and No 30621 regulating the duties and authorities of the Directorate General of Highways to determine the responsibilities on the protection of wildlife in places where the highways divide the habitats.

Along with the Law dated 27.12.2018 and No. 7159 published in the Official Gazette dated 28.12.2018 and No. 3039 and the Temporary Article 25 added to the Law No. 2918:

The traffic administrative fines were ensured to be subjected to re-evaluation ratios and be imposed over the amounts in 2018 without increasing.

Along with the Law dated 06.12.2019 and No. 7196 published in the Official Gazette dated 24.12.2019 and No. 30988; amendments were made in the Article 5, 41, 42, and 71 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, the Article 5/A and Annex 7 of the same Law, and the Additional Article 22 of the Law No. 3201 was abolished. Along with the regulation made:

The Traffic Presidency Services and the affiliated Traffic Presidency Implementation and Control, Traffic Presidency Planning and Support, Traffic Presidency Training and Research, and Directorate of Traffic Research Centre were closed to be regulated in the Presidential Decree to save on staff, simplify, and reduce the units by reuniting these units performing similar tasks in the restructuring of the Turkish National Police.

Concerning traffic, the duties assigned to the Turkish National Police and the General Command of Gendarmerie with the Law No. 2918 were allocated to the Ministry of Interior, and the determination of it in the regulation to be made by the Ministry of Interior with the principles related to the duties, authorities, and responsibilities was ensured.

Vehicles indicated on the list No. (1) added to the Law pertaining to the higher authorities of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the government and the ones identified in the Regulation as having the priority of way due to duty or service requirements or safety were included in the scope of priority of way.

With the Law dated 06.12.2019 and No. 7196 published in the Official Gazette dated 24.12.2019 and No. 30988; the amendment was made in the Article 5 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, and the Article 5/A and Annex 7 of the same Law, and the Additional Article 22 of the Law No. 3201 were abolished. Along with the regulation made; the duties related to traffic, assigned to the Turkish National Police and the General Command of Gendarmerie were allocated to the Ministry of Interior with the Law No. 2918, which ensured the determination of the essentials related to the duties, authorities, and responsibilities with the regulations to be made by the Ministry of Interior.

The Regulation on the Performance of Tasks of the Ministry of Interior, prepared to determine the authorities and responsibilities regarding the duties allocated to the Ministry of Interior with the Article 5 of the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, entered into force being published in the Official Gazette dated 26/6/2020 and No. 31167.

Amendments Made in the Road Traffic Regulation in the Last Two Years

Amendment was made in Article 8 and 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 03/08/2019 and No. 30851. With the amendment made:

The establishment of the gendarmerie central and rural traffic units was determined.

• It enabled the gendarmerie traffic units to control the vehicles used in criminal activities and confiscated by the gendarmerie and to take criminal action against the violations detected in the roads in the area of responsibility gendarmerie in terms of public order, and police of traffic.

Amendments were made in the rules and procedures on the evaluation and examination with the qualifications to be required in drivers in the psycho-technics evaluation and psychiatrist examination, and the procedures on Psychotechnics Evaluation and Psychiatrist Examination and the opening of Psychotechnics evaluation centres, some regulations were made on the standards of centres and opportunity was provided for the approval of reports to be compiled in electronic media with a sign with the amendments made in the Article 79 of the Road Traffic Regulation with the Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 21.03.2020 and No. 31075 and in scale No. 4.

The rules and procedures on the use of vehicles in Turkey with the driver’s licenses received abroad were regulated reserving the articles of the bilateral and plurilateral agreement and laws on the amendments made in the Article 88 of the Road Traffic Regulation with the Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 05/06/2020 and No. 31146.

Amendments Made in Other Regulations and Directives

• With the regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 07/03/2019 and
• No. 30707, amendments were made in the Articles 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, and 13, and Annex-3 of the Duties of Voluntary Traffic Inspectors and Working Regulation, and the Temporary Article 1 was added to the regulation.
• With the regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 09/07/2019 and No. 30826, amendment was made in Article 7 of the Voluntary Traffic Inspectors and Working Regulation.
• With the regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 31/10/2019 and No. 30934, amendment was made in the Article 6 and 11 of the Voluntary Traffic Inspectors and Working Regulation and the Annex-4 (Voluntary Traffic Inspectorship Application Form) was added to the regulation.
• The Rules and Procedures on the Voluntary Traffic Inspectors Traffic Violation Detection Report to be organized electronically entered into force with the Directorate General Approval dated 03/04/2019. These rules and procedures were abolished with the Voluntary Traffic Inspector Traffic Violation Detection Report and Voluntary Traffic Inspector Identity Card to Be Organized Electronically, entering into force with the Directorate General Approval dated 25/09/2020.
• Amendment was made in the Article 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 13 in the Duties of Voluntary Traffic Inspector and Working Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 03.09.2020 and No. 31233, the Annex-2 of the Regulation was abolished, and the Annex-4 was amended.

Along with the regulation made, an opportunity was provided to the provision of temporary traffic document and registration plate to vehicles regardless whether they had registration in Turkey or a foreign country, and inquiring any other document by the Turkish National Police, in case the vehicles, confiscated due to being involved in the criminal activity of producing and trading narcotics or stimulants, were brought into the use of the Turkish National Police, General Command of Gendarmerie, or Turkish Coast Guard Command with the approval of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization:

• The regulation on the Collection of Administrative Fines Imposed to the Vehicles with Foreign License Plates with the Official Gazette dated 13/02/2018 and No. 30331.
• The Directive prepared for the Directive on the Measures to Be Taken in Traffic Controls and Traffic Accidents to adapt the changing legislation and include the General Command of Gendarmerie traffic institutions entered into force with the Approval of our Esteemed Minister on 14/12/2018.

 

b. Institutional Structure

 

An effective road safety management is considered essential by several international institutions and organizations to ensure that this progress, in terms of decreasing the loss of lives and serious injuries in traffic accidents and improving, is sustainable.

In reports, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), and World Bank68,69,70, some common advice are given for the traffic safety management. This advice, in short, are observed to have been collected under the result-oriented, coordination, legislation, financing and resource allocation, advertisement/promotion, monitoring and evaluation, research and development, and information transfer headings.

At this point, strengthening the road infrastructure stipulated by the Safe System Approach, enhancing the vehicle safety standards, and simultaneous and holistic monitoring of an effective post-accident intervention strategy, as well as the training of road users and control strategies, followed up conventionally in ensuring road safety will help in decreasing the road traffic accidents and lowering the costs arising. A safe road safety system allocates responsibilities to all stakeholders responsible for the operation of the system in a manner to move simultaneously and collectively. 71

Correcting institutional deficiencies is of great importance in terms of developing and implementing effective national road safety programmes. A structure, equipped with specialist and qualified labour force, with the capacity of sufficient financial resources and sanction power, to ensure the coordination of large-scale road safety interventions and programmes at a local and regional level and across the country.

Therefore, as part of the international best practices, traffic safety management is expected to fulfil seven of its institutional management functions for the adoption of the Safe System Approach, and these functions are72:

1. Result-oriented – a strategic approach associating all real and potential interventions with results,
2. Coordination,
3. Legislation,
4. Financing and resource allocation,
5. Promotion,
6. Monitoring and evaluation,
7. Research and development, and information transfer.

 

c. Staff

The staff structure of traffic safety stakeholder institutions being in line with the duties fulfilled in terms of quality and quantity is an important factor in terms of traffic safety quality. The staff assigned in all stages of the traffic safety system in terms of recruitment process of the staff, required qualifications, basic and in-service trainings, promotion, working conditions, appointment and relocation, and the rights attributed to the staff, should be supported with the most appropriate conditions.

Therefore, the assignment of staff with the quality and quantity to fulfil the requirements of traffic safety is essential in all traffic safety stakeholders. Staff selection, specialization, and developments related to the working system of staff with the training activities conducted in this context should be ensured complementarily in the entire sector.

Within this scope, the staff receiving quality traffic safety training and put into practice the traffic rules as a road user by internalizing them is should be given a priority. The traffic safety stakeholder institutions should primarily prepare plans and in-service trainings on the accordance of staff actions to the traffic rules and carry into effect the practice directions reinforcing compliance with the traffic rules, especially for the staff using official vehicles.

All institutional staff carrying out infrastructure vehicle, training, control, and health interventions being elements of traffic safety have to receive the basic and speciality trainings pertinent to traffic safety. All staffing activities, from the entrance upon the career of the traffic police to their appointment and relocation, should be planned in line with the traffic safety control perspective.

The staff structure working in the field of traffic has great importance in the local administrations having a part in terms of ensuring the traffic safety in the residential areas where a large part of the population, having an important part in urban traffic safety dwell.

As the Turkish National Police Traffic Presidency , to ensure that the traffic regulation and control duties fulfilled by the traffic units to be performed by sufficient number of and quality staff “effectively, consistently, and intensively” with high performance without wasting public funding, and that the number of staff assigned in the traffic units to meet the needs, a total of 5.934 staff graduating from Police Training Institutes were assigned in traffic units, namely:

• 800 staff with the Ministerial Approval dated 30.05.2018,
• 2.000 staff with the Ministerial Approval dated 18.07.2018,
• 1.500 staff with the Ministerial Approval dated 31.12.2018,
• 1.500 staff with the Ministerial Approval dated 06.08.2019,
• 134 Deputy Inspectors with the Ministerial Approval dated 17.07.2020,

and then the “Traffic and Accident Investigation Basic Training” based on the branch was provided by the TNP Traffic Presidency within the process to ensure the adaptation of the staff to the duty and competence.

Besides, 356 Gendarmerie staff were appointed to traffic units directly within 2019.

d. Training

One of the key factors of traffic safety is the assignment of the qualified staff in each stage of traffic safety. The following are the essentials of the Safe System Approach; the road infrastructure work to be carried out by staff trained in the field of traffic safety, infrastructure safety controls to be conducted by competent staff, the staff assigned in the production, maintenance, and repair of vehicles or the self-employed worker to act with the awareness of traffic safety, the formal education in schools to be provided by teachers with traffic safety training and pedagogical formation, trainers with traffic safety training and pedagogical formation to be assigned in motor vehicle driving courses, staff being an expert on traffic safety and communication to be assigned in campaigns, staff trained in the field of traffic safety to be assigned in the legislative arrangement of traffic and strategic management, trainings essential for traffic branch and specialization trainings at law-enforcement level to be provided at the desired level in the field of traffic safety, emergency medical technicians, fire fighters, search and rescue staff receiving training on intervention in traffic accident to be assigned in post-accident emergency response and first-aid, health care professionals proficient in traffic accident traumas to be assigned in hospitals and emergency response units, staff provided with the traffic safety and accident analysis training to be assigned in accident investigations, and thus staff trained in the field of “Road Traffic Safety” to be assigned in all stakeholder institutions and organizations with the responsibility for ensuring traffic safety.

To establish and manage a safe system as part of the Safe System Approach, the inclusion of system designers in the training activities is of capital importance, for the responsibility is shouldered over them. Planners, engineers, health care professionals, traffic police officers, and other actors should have a good grasp of the Safe System Approach.

Regarding the traffic polices assigned on the control and regulation of traffic, Basic Traffic and Accident Investigation Training, Accident Research and Expertise Training, Safe Driving Techniques Training, Tachograph Use Training, Radar User Training, Alcoholmeter User Training, Hazardous Material Transport Control Training, Drug Test Kits User Training, Public Relations and Communication in Traffic Controls Training, and Motorcycle Traffic Teams User Training and several other in-service traffic trainings are organized in different fields at basic and training of trainer levels, to increase professional information and skills, enhance the efficiency and quality of services, meet the trained staff needs of the traffic units, and to inform the staff on the developments and innovations on their working areas. In-service trainings were provided to more than a total of 95.052 traffic polices in the last

 

five years by developing the trainings organized along with the advancing technology within these headings.

All stakeholder institutions need specialized staff with necessary competencies. A construction engineer graduating from engineering faculty needs to take courses on road construction before being assigned in road construction, the mechanical engineer assigned in the scientific inspection of vehicles needs to participate in speciality training on vehicle technologies and vehicle safety systems, and the traffic officer assigned in traffic controls needs to receive adequate training on traffic control as well as general law-enforcement training. To that end, it is observed necessary;

• To provide speciality trainings following the basic trainings and support the aforesaid trainings with advanced level trainings such as master’s degree education,
• To support the training opportunities provided by international organizations and exchange mechanisms for the training of staff,
• To establish and promote higher education institutions such as Traffic Safety Teaching and Management Faculty to be able to conduct academic studies in the field of traffic safety, build up knowledge, and conduct detailed researches at the desired level, and to preferably accept the graduates of these faculties in lines of sector and professions related to traffic safety in public and private sector as a prerequisite.
• To appoint the trainers to be assigned in formal and nonformal training institutions and driving courses to provide traffic training, and the staff and managers apart from the education and training services class in the course from the graduates of higher education institutions such as Traffic Safety Teaching and Management Faculty, College, and Institute,
• To renew and support the working conditions with motivational tools and in a way to ensure that the staff can do their duty properly. with reference to the fact that the staff working in the field of traffic safety serves in ensuring the safety of life of people.

As such, the institutional means and capacities should be reviewed specific to the road traffic safety trainings, improvements should be made in service delivery, and the scope of supply of the road traffic safety training should be expanded in a way to include life-long learning outside class.

Related to the police assigned to control and regulate traffic, service traffic trainings such as basic Traffic and Accident Investigation Training, Accident Research and Expertise Training, Safe Driving Techniques Training, Tachograph User Training, Radar User Training, Alcoholmeter User Training, Hazardous Material Transport Control Training, Drug Test Kit User Training, Public Relations and Communication Training in Traffic Controls Training, and Motorcycle Traffic Teams User Training in 10 main headings at basic and training of trainer level are organized to increase the professional information and skills of relevant traffic police assigned, enhance the efficiency and quality of the service, meet the trained staff need of the traffic units, and inform the staff on the developments and innovations related to their working areas:

A total of 11.992 persons were provided with in-service training in 2017, which are;

• 1120 persons with Basic Traffic and Accident Investigation
• 1.094 persons with Radar-Alcoholmeter-Tachograph- Drug Kit User Training within the development training
• 6.344 persons with development training over smart classes
• 1.245 persons with Safe Driving Training
• 376 persons with Public Relations and Communication Training
• 1.459 persons with City Police Official Report Making Training
• 186 persons with Training of Trainers
• 127 persons with Motorcycle Traffic Teams Driving Techniques Training
• 30 persons with Hazardous Material Transport Training
• And 11 persons from different country police department members.

A total of 23.511 persons were provided with in-service training in 2018, which are:

• 3.393 persons with Basic Traffic and Accident Investigation,
• 1.849 persons with Accident Research and Expertise Training,
• 1.919 persons with Radar-Alcoholmeter-Tachograph- Drug Kit User Training within the development training,
• 430 persons with the Control of Vehicles Carrying Hazardous Materials,
• 11.343 persons with development training over smart classes,
• 13.73 persons with Safe Driving Techniques Training,
• 587 persons with Public Relations and Communication Training,
• 2.027 persons with City Police Official Report Making Training,
• 172 persons with Training of Trainers,
• 200 persons with Motorcycle Traffic Teams Driving Techniques Training,
• 14 with Hazardous Material Transport Training,
• 118 persons with Electronic Control Systems,
• 86 persons from different country police department members

A total of 25.721 persons were provided with in-service training in 2019, which are:

• 3.769 persons with Basic Traffic and Accident Investigation,
• 3.406 persons with Radar-Alcoholmeter-Tachograph- Drug Kit User Training within the development training
• 926 persons with the Control of Vehicles Carrying Hazardous Materials,
• 13.011 persons with development training over smart classes,
• 1.500 persons with Safe Driving Techniques Training,
• 985 persons with Public Relations and Communication Training,
• 1.575 persons with City Police Official Report Making Training
• 176 persons with Training of Trainers,
• 201 persons with Motorcycle Traffic Teams Driving Techniques Training,
• 55 persons with Drug Test Device and Kit Training of Trainer,
• 36 persons with the Seminar on Trainer Improvement and Curriculum Update with a Trainer,
• And 81 persons from different country police department members.

 

 

 

To improve the “Perceived Risk of Being Caught” under the Chapter 3 “Increasing the Staff, Training, Support and Capacity in Traffic Safety” of the Traffic Safety Implementation Policy Paper; a total of 5.061 staff in 2017,2018 and 2019 received training in the Headquarters in accordance with the objective to continue the Traffic Violation Detection Report trainings for the general law enforcement officers.

A total of 1.849 staff were provided with training following the objective of increasing the accident research capacity of the On-Site Investigation staff in the same department.

The Eskişehir Traffic Police Training Centre was linked to the TNP Traffic Presidency with the Ministerial Approval dated 09.03.2020 in accordance with the objective on “Restructuring the Traffic Polic Training Centre in Eskişehir and Transforming it into a Traffic Training Plans Implementation Centre for the entire country”.

Besides, the project of the field was completed and approved in 2019 as a result of the efforts shown in line with the need for the construction of a new field allocated to the Turkish National Police to build a “Police Training, Service, Residence, and Social Facility” over the premises with 100.084.69 m2 acreage located in the Ihlamurkent (Mamuca) Neighbourhood of Odunpazarı District in Eskişehir.

In accordance with the objective that “Public Relations and Effective Communication Trainings will be improved and continued”, a total of 6.647 staff received Public Relations and Communication Training in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

 e. Tools, Equipment, and Materials

It is an affirmed fact that the investments made in traffic safety and transport sector serve commerce, the delivery of products and services, and the spirit of the society with its social and economic dimensions, and act as a locomotive for several sectors. Source allocation to road infrastructure, increasing the safety of vehicle fleets, organizing more traffic safety trainings, control and post-accident intervention, rescue, and care services is necessary to ensure comfortable and safe road transportation.

The resources allocated to the road infrastructure constitute a major part of the investments made in traffic safety. Although the infrastructure investments come to mind as traffic safety investments, the Safe System Approach needs to be followed up in the fields of tools, equipment, and materials.

The traffic safety has additional headings becoming prominent when unavailable as well as the core elements to be summarized in general such as traffic safety management, infrastructure, vehicle, training, control, and post-accident intervention activities. All parts of traffic safety need to be discussed as part of the safe system approach. Strengthening all ministries, institutions, and organizations being a part of the system in terms of tools, equipment, and materials will have a high and tangible contribution to traffic safety by taking into consideration that:

• Humans may be mistaken or may make mistakes,
• The system should be established based on “Forgiving human mistakes” instead of entirely “blaming the victim”,
• The human body is fragile, and it wasn’t designed in a way to become resistant to force,
• The responsibility of improving road safety should be shared amongst all stakeholders, and the responsibility to improve road safety shouldn’t be solely shouldered by only one institution

in all interventions for the management of traffic safety, infrastructure efforts, vehicles, all training activities, control activities that shouldn’t be only limited with road users, and rehabilitating people to their condition before the accident.

 f. Strategic Efforts and Budget

 

 

The fact that environmental conditions will change in time should be considered and the planning should be done as an average of 5 years while preparing the national traffic safety policies, and the activities to be conducted at a country level and lower geographical fields should be predetermined. The inclusion of the following sections is recommended in a traffic safety strategy with clear, realistic, and measurable objectives and anticipated to be activated based on a budget:75

While conducting traffic control within the Safe System Approach, it is necessary to control whether the resources allocated are suitable in terms of police measures. It is understood from the governmental practices that 20% of the total budget allocated to the police has been used to ensure traffic safety. One should remember that the traffic safety campaigns, conducted to raise the awareness of road users, are the greatest supporter of police controls.76

Furthermore, the road traffic safety issue is suitable for project-based investment by international organizations established with this design along with being subjected to the budget and resource allocation of governments, and among these organizations are the leading funders such as:

• European Union; Sector Operational Programme for Transport (SOPT) 2014-2020,
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),
• European Investment Bank (EIB),
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),
• Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF),
• European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
• European Commission Horizon 2020 Programme,
• United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund (UNRSTF),
• Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety.

g. Data Collection, Analysis, and Evaluation

The proper operation of data systems is important to prevent road traffic accidents and develop measures against the types of accident occurrence. Traffic police, health care institutions, insurance companies, the vehicles related to the structure of road of national and local units responsible for infrastructure, and the presentation of records of the features of vehicles to use by vehicle producers to ensure traffic safety by making a part of data systems is important.

The effective traffic policing recommendation principles were published by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The importance setting time-limited, concise, clear and applicable goals on the factors causing traffic accidents by conducting detailed accident investigations is specified amongst these principles.78

There are the hardware and software of the data systems and institutions included in the process of collecting data related to traffic accidents and management of these data, and the staff assigned in these institutions within the traffic accidents data systems, data collection process.

The traffic accident data systems are recommended to have the following features: 79

• To include all traffic accidents involving death and serious injury.
• To ensure enough detail on the vehicle, road user, and road/environment to help detect the causes of accidents and take countermeasures.
• To include accurate information on the site of the accident.
• To procure reliable output within a favourable period to enable proper decision-making.
• To enable the evaluation of exposure data (alcohol influence, drug-stimulant influence, use of cell phone, etc.).

Accessing the information on the following factors in addition to the above information is also essential:

• Information on the road standard, design, and road perimeter,
• Traffic flow, volume, and characteristics,
• Information on the vehicle,
• All information on the driver.

The progress of procedures in four main steps is recommended to establish an ideal traffic safety data system. 80These steps are:

Step 1: Determining the persons and institutions involved in the process of collecting, managing, and using the road safety data,

Step 2: Focusing on matters such as detecting available data resources and systems, identifying the features of these, and accuracy, integrity, and underreporting and carrying out evaluation on data quality,

Step 3: Identifying the needs and expectation of the latest users of traffic safety data,

Step 4: Setting up the necessary legal infrastructure to gather available data, collect the necessary but haven’t yet been systematically collected data, and bring together in a joint database.

World Health Organization suggests the inclusion of the following data on traffic in the recommended data systems to be established to be used in evaluations in terms of traffic safety:81

a. Data on the road:

• The number, class, and length of roads,
• Types of roads according to strip width and number of refugees,
• Number and width of lanes,
• Type of pedestrian walk, intersection design,
• Type of traffic control (signs, roundabout, stopping and giving way spots),
• Aligning (horizontal and vertical skewness, and its degree, etc.),
• Highway surface (asphalt, concrete, and without a surface coating),
• Surface finish (roughness, traces, concavities),
• Stockades (width, type, and condition),
• Drainage,
• Speed limits,
• Lighting systems according to type and location,
• Regulations on parking,
• Data on the location (x, y coordinates, number of routes and the closest km sign or network point),
• Traffic density or short-term counting according to the number of vehicles per day,
• Structure of the traffic according to the type of vehicle in traffic,
• Change of traffic (according to a certain hour of day or week or monthly or annually),
• Turnarounds in intersections.

b. Vehicle data:

• Vehicle speed data,
• Details on vehicle ownership (date of birth, gender, name, address, date of purchase),
• Vehicle registration number along with the frame and engine numbers,
  • Engine size and type (hybrid, LPG, gasoline or diesel),
  • Passenger capacity,
  • Year of production and the registry date the vehicle was firstly registered in the country,
  • Body style (automobile, caravan, pickup truck, etc.), number of doors, details on the changes made,
  • Technical inspection information.

c. Driver data:

• Driver’s identifying information and address,
• Birthdate and gender,
• Type of driver’s license (e.g. full or conditional, and the type of vehicle the license is applicable),
• Issue date and location of the driver’s license,
• Information on the process of getting a driver’s license and the driving test,
• Records on traffic violations,
• Information on the health condition of the driver (diseases, physical inabilities, visual impairment, renal failure, cardiovascular diseases, medications used, etc. information).

All stakeholders need to be able to access the information stated above through electronic systems in evaluations on traffic safety, especially the investigations of traffic accidents.

Moreover, the creation of a data bank to collect all data on road traffic safety in one centre, establishment and preservation of data systems where necessary data will be collected and analysed to support the road traffic safety policy determination process, and the collection, evaluation, and analysis of the data in the Data Centre to ensure that these data are accessible by researchers and public opinion are recommended in the report entitled “Highway Safety Strategy (2021-2030) and accompanying Action Plan and Investment Plan” prepared within the “Highway Safety-100% Safety in Traffic” Project conducted as part of the National Programme of Turkey 2013-Pre-Accession Financial Aid Tool. Accordingly;

• Accident investigation data,
• Driver’s license records,
• Vehicle records,
• Traffic ticket data,
• Emergency response data,
• Data on the loss of lives and serious injuries,
• Data on traffic accident insurance payments,
• Turkish road networks assets digital inventory (such inventory is currently held by the DGH provided that it is limited to the assets only in its own management.).
• Commercial transport data;
  • Dolmuş (collective taxi),
  • Taxi,
  • Managers doing airport transfer, Intercity bus managers, rent-a-cars,
  • Trucks and other transport companies,
• Data on the traffic load in the road network of Turkey

should be collected, inspected, evaluated, analysed in the Data Centre.

h. Accident Investigation

Traffic accidents are accepted as one of the important public health problems according to the efforts made by international organizations, and the deaths due to traffic accidents;

• come in first for the children between the ages of 5-14,
• second for the children and young adults between the ages of 15-29,
• and fifth for the adults between the ages of 30-49 following diseases such as heart attack, AIDS, and lung cancer.82

According to the 2018 World Traffic Safety Situation Report published by the World Health Organization,83 road traffic accidents constitute the loss of lives of an average of 1.35 million people annually (3.698 people daily, and 1 person per 24 seconds), and cause the injury or disability of around 50 million people annually. The leading cause of death of persons between the ages of 5 and 29 is traffic accidents.

Again, according to the other evaluations of the World Health Organization on the same subject,84 the road traffic accidents constitute the main reason for 2.1% of deaths on earth separately and comes in 8th amongst the causes of death (It came in 11th in 2011). In case this percentage is lowered by 2030, it is predicted that road traffic accidents will rise to the 5th place in the ranking of causes of death. The cost of road traffic accidents is equal to 3% of their gross domestic product in several countries.

The pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders, identified as the vulnerable road users and don’t have any safety measure against motor vehicles constitute more than half of all road traffic accidents involving death.

• Pedestrians and bicyclists constitute 26%,
• Two or three-wheeled motor vehicle drivers 28%,
• And motor vehicle drivers 29% of the persons losing their lives in traffic accidents,
• And no statistical data was obtained regarding the remainder 17%.85

Performance of in-depth accident analyses and re-enactment of traffic accidents

Detailed information is required to perform accident analyses thoroughly. Detailed information on all elements should be included in the accident reports to detect the happening of the accident as well as the general information on the incident.

The staff assigned with the accident investigation role should have received a decent training and been trained to have a good grasp of the situation as well as a detailed collection of information on accident detection.86

Sample surveys should be primarily conducted to perform accident analyses objectively and scientifically, and the gaps in available reports should be detected comparatively. Type of road, the features of the vehicle, safety measures, horizontal and vertical signalization, the conditions of other road users, traffic rules violated in the happening of the accident, medical and driving records of the drivers, accident histories and violation records of the drivers, environmental information on the potential causes of an accident, obtaining witnesses or footages if any, information on the other accidents happening in the same place in the recent years, constructions made on the infrastructure of the road, the lighting of the road, vegetation, buildings, and other factors in the road perimeter, safety measures available in the car as factory production, additionally whether any changes were made in the structure of the vehicle, the latest technical inspection information of the vehicle, whether the vehicle underwent modification or repair, and all the other information regarding the accident are included in the report on the accident as much as possible.

Necessary efforts should be made to re-enact the traffic accidents happening previously in accident investigations. A full incident scenario should be drawn by including the statements of the witnesses and effort should be shown to detect false statements, if any during the accident re-enactment. The road section where the accident happened should be observed on-site and the statements of staff intervening in the situation on-site should be referred to in the study made for accident re-enactment. If it isn’t possible to take the witnesses on the site of the accident, the statements of the witnesses should be placed over the live footage of the site of the accident and the re-enactment of the incident should be ensured.

Staff with infrastructure, vehicle, and driver speciality, as well as the traffic police, should participate in the accident investigation team to investigate the accident with a multidisciplinary approach.

Using technological facilities, integrating three-dimensional photograph processing technologies, digital maps, and databases, integrating vehicle and driver data in the same database, the vehicle and driver history records and the constructions made in the road structure to be open access in the same database, the master plans on the site of the accident to be open to the use of accident researchers, and presenting technical facilities such as drone to the use of accident researchers in the accident re-enactment efforts.

Performance of complementary traffic safety analyses based on accident researches

Conducting complementary researches is necessary to analyse the results obtained from road traffic accidents in detail and draw conclusions. Within the complementary researches the following factors should be fastidiously put into practice; 87

• To present and report the characteristics of the road section and the condition of available horizontal and vertical signalization, roadside structures and features, behaviours of road users in the road section, available and potential accident risks, and causes of the accident by detecting the road sections where serious accidents happen
• To carry out road infrastructure inspections based on accident data and prevent accidents by dismissing road equipment to cause a traffic accident and putting into practice alternative road construction and restoration technics,
• To detect the number of being involved in an accident of the vehicles used in roads and due to what features they get involved in traffic accidents, rectify these features or suggest new features to the vehicle producers, and facilitate the making of decisions to stop the use of parts with a specific feature causing a certain type of traffic accidents due to this feature,
• To ascertain the driver behaviours causing accidents and understand the reasons causing this way of behaviour, identifying the psychological and physical causes of violative behaviours being the reason behind accidents to be able to perform interventions such as training and control, and prevent violative behaviours,
• To evaluate the causes of accidents and the results of surveys conducted for the road users together to develop road user trainings,
• To better understand the risk factors causing accidents and the factors affecting road users,
• To measure the effectiveness of measures and controls in terms of accident prevention and the adoption of road users to improve the behaviours of road users in terms of compliance.

i.Relations with the Non-Governmental Organizations

Inclusion of non-governmental organizations and their initiatives in traffic safe strategies is important in terms of receiving the contributions of voluntary bodies to take responsibility and be able to suppose the public institutions in a matter concerning the entire society such as traffic safety.88

Division of traffic safety responsibility

One of the essentials of the Safe System Approach is the division of responsibility and the fact that all actors being active in traffic safety has responsibility is crucial for this approach in nature.

Constructive contributions should be provided by the traffic safety stakeholders; transportation sector, road infrastructure, environment, education, police, public health, justice mechanism, tourism sector, associations and foundations established by the road users, NGOs, insurance sector and vehicle producers, researchers, etc. from many fields for traffic safety.89

Ensuring the participation of citizens and transparency

Providing confidence to the citizens, announcing the inputs and outcomes of the efforts made to ensure constructive contribution to traffic safety to the citizen through proper means are important elements to increase support. Presentation of annual reports, facilitation of access to the data for the researchers being willing to, and to carry out effective information exchange between stakeholders and coordinated efforts are also important in terms of accountability.90

Improving advocacy in traffic safety

Awareness-raising activities to positively improve policies pursued in any subject, programmes, and allocated resources, are referred to as “Advocacy”. Advocacy activities are considered to be one of the factors to be paid regard to by international organizations in traffic safety efforts.

Taking the support of Non-governmental Organizations being active in the field of victims of accidents in the field of traffic safety in general, explaining the material, social, and cultural consequences of traffic accidents to the society from their own voice are important in terms of receiving social support to all kinds of traffic safety efforts made.

The placement of Safe System Approach, grounded on the protection of humans and the division of responsibility amongst stakeholders, into law, organization of institutional structures according to this approach, the performance of all traffic safety interventions as part of this approach are important in terms of meeting the expectations of the citizens of Turkey.

Improving civil society in the field of traffic safety to support the decision-makers in the improvement of road safety in Turkey

The flexible of Non-governmental organizations, the fact that they can easily reach all layers in lobbying, their identifiability by international organizations may contribute to the promotion of actions taken by public institutions and giving support to these efforts. The advocacy services provided by non-governmental organizations are generally based on:91

• Drawing the attention to traffic safety,
• Strengthening the will to solve problems related to traffic safety,
• Convincing society on the causes of traffic accidents and the importance of the measures taken,
• Adopting the strategies developed and the measures taken in the field of traffic safety, increasing the social acknowledgement on the post-accident and prevention services provided,
• Setting an example to the society in the improvement of road user behaviours on compliance,
• Building bridges between all segments of society and public organizations,
• Increasing the investments made in the field of traffic safety and the rehabilitative activities for the victims of accidents,
• And raising awareness in society in terms of ensuring traffic safety.

Besides, the planning of the specific objectives of the advocacy activities with each campaign and its accompaniment to these campaigns are of great importance. The efforts to be made can be summarized as follows:

• Cooperation with the NGOs trying to achieve the same objective,
• Civil society capacity increase,
• Analysis, data and researches, position documents,
• Cooperation with the actors of the sector,
• Advocacy in the presence of decision-makers,
• Community-based activities,
• Partnership,
• Cooperation with private sectors.

In advocacy strategy, it is suggested to attract the attention of the public by creating content concurrently and in cooperation with the campaigns planned in the communication strategy, generate demand, and make efforts to ensure legal and environmental regulations are in place through public pressure. Following a strategy to produce an effect in the presence of decision-makers and law-makers as part of the scientific methods and transparency principle, organizing workshops, trainings, and congresses to increase the capacity of NGOs carrying out works in the field of traffic and traffic safety in Turkey and setting up projects, and laying the foundations of evidence-based efforts in medium and long-term is essential. 

j. Cooperation, Coordination, and International Efforts

As Road Traffic Safety is a subject involving several disciplines, it is crucial to ensure coordination between institutions. The general outlook, obtained from the examples around the world, reveals that the stakeholder institutions and organizations make separate efforts on traffic safety, yet, as the interdivisional coordination falls short in the efforts made, they haven’t been that effective in decreasing the number of accidents and deaths.

The following figure summarizes the mobility management with safe roads and ensuring traffic safety in efforts planned to be made within the control of traffic rules:

Coordination of research and development efforts

The coordination of research and development efforts made by institutes, universities, public and private organizations for traffic safety, and the coordination of public and private sector investments are important. According to the examples of countries, it is considered that the traffic safety research structure with sufficient budget and preferably an independent structure, has positive contributions to the conduct of traffic safety researches.

Interinstitutional coordination at the national level

Traffic safety is a field requiring the collaborative work of several sectors and dividing the responsibilities to various institutions. It is possible to achieve success in case activities in several fields such as road infrastructure, transportation, production of vehicles, importation, and field, training, health, information, and awareness-raising activities on its use, provision of budget to the entire traffic safety activities, and conduct of legislative arrangement, are carried out co-ordinately and in cooperation.

Making coordinated efforts at a local level

Traffic safety is a problem to be researched at a local level as well as being a public health problem at the national level. The most accurate observation on the traffic safety problems emerging in a certain region or neighbourhood is the one made by people dwelling in that region, going shopping, using the means of transport between house and workplace, or included in the road traffic as road users in various ways. That’s why developing measures based on the observations of these people contributes to the solution of traffic problems.

Therefore, developing relationships with the citizens at a local level and community representatives, especially the local authority being the representative of citizens, evaluating demands and complaints, making efforts on the solution of problems and informing the relevant person of their consequences is vital for the performance of coordinated efforts at local level.93

Contribution of international activities to traffic safety

The United Nations has different institutions, several international and regional organizations such as the European Union and Development Organization, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation has efforts they make to ensure traffic safety emerging as a serious problem on earth.

It is considered that developing international relationships in the field of traffic safety will make Turkey more powerful as a result of strengthening the sensitivity shown and the activities conducted in the field of traffic safety, utilizing in researches, and engaging in exemplary activities for other countries.

Figure: Coordination of Traffic Safety Elements

 

Performing collaborative works on traffic safety in natural disasters, especially earthquakes and emergencies

Serious progress was made on dealing with dangers and threats posed against humans resulting from disasters, especially earthquakes happening due to geological, topographic, and climatic characteristics in the recent years, serious progress was made in institutional and social fields, efficient and effective interventions were ensured by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in disasters and emergencies both inside and outside Turkey, and serious success was achieved.

The duties and responsibilities of institutions and organizations in emergencies were indicated with the “National Earthquake Strategy and Action Plan-2023” within the “Turkey National Disaster Response Plan (2013)” prepared to create a prepared and resistant society in decreasing the risk of and dealing with an earthquake, prepare the institutional infrastructure for this purpose, and determine the priorities of relevant research and development activities. The fulfilment of duties to ensure safety and traffic in disasters and emergencies was planned to be under the coordination of the Ministry of Interior with the “Turkey National Disaster Response Plan”, and the following are amongst the main duties related to traffic:

• Ensuring traffic habit in applicable roads and managing traffic as necessary,
• Ensuring the right of way of vehicles identified to be used in disaster and emergency services (with logos, signs, etc. standardized to ensure recognition),
• Ensuring the tools, equipment, etc. and referral of safety staff needed to the region where the disaster and emergency situation occurred,
• And ensuring the access of international aid teams to the setting safely through routes determined.

In the aforesaid plan; the duties to ensure fast and safe access to the disaster area and organize navigation were planned to be performed under the coordination of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure jointly with the Ministry of Interior, and other support solution partners, and amongst these duties were;

• the arrangement and organization required to ensure transportation to and in the disaster area,
• determination and announcement of alternative routes and the use of priority routes,
• organization of direction and km signs, and other signalizations necessary for traffic safety,
• ensuring the repair of road and railways, seaports, bridges, and viaducts damaged,
• and the removal of wreck especially the main arterial roads and the ones over the congested roads, and cleaning of debris.

Making preparations in all necessary matters, strengthening institutions capacity with planning and organization efforts, and adopting collective types of movement by conducting trainings and drills are of capital importance for fulfilling the duties and responsibilities related to all natural disasters and other emergencies, especially earthquakes without a hitch.