In the Vitebsk region, since the beginning of 2020, 14 accidents involving pedestrians have occurred, resulting in 3 fatalities and 12 injuries of varying severity.
In the Vitebsk region, since the beginning of 2020, 14 accidents involving pedestrians have occurred, resulting in 3 fatalities and 12 injuries of varying severity.
6 road traffic accidents were caused by pedestrians themselves, resulting in 3 fatalities and 4 injuries. 2 accidents were caused by intoxicated pedestrians, with 1 person injured and 1 fatality.
On the territory of the Vitebsk region, 6 road traffic accidents occurred due to violations of pedestrian crossing rules, in which 6 people received injuries of varying severity.
Traffic police officers identified 49 traffic violations by pedestrians in the city of Vitebsk alone.
For instance, on January 11th alone, 3 traffic accidents involving pedestrians occurred in the region.
On January 11th, a resident of Polotsk, driving a Volkswagen Passat on the Gorodok-Ulla-Kamen highway, hit a local resident. According to the driver, he did not notice the pedestrian because, after oncoming traffic, he was blinded by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. The pedestrian was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
On the same evening, in the Orsha district, a car driver hit a local resident. The woman was crossing the road outside a pedestrian crossing. It should be noted that the crossing was within her line of sight. The pedestrian sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital.
An accident also occurred in the city of Vitebsk. Around 7 PM, a 20-year-old driver of a Lada Vesta hit a young man who was crossing the roadway at an unregulated pedestrian crossing. The Vitebsk resident was taken to a medical facility for assistance.
Research by specialists in this area indicates that in 90% of cases, pedestrians consciously violate traffic rules, with haste being the primary motive for the violation. The sudden appearance of a person in the path of a vehicle makes it difficult for the driver to avoid a collision. Accident statistics show that in most such cases, drivers did not notice the person running across the road at all.
A significant number of accidents occur in the dark, as pedestrians see cars with their headlights on, while drivers do not see pedestrians. Many pedestrians are unaware of this, thereby endangering themselves.
When approaching a pedestrian crossing, a driver must
carefully observe the behaviour
of pedestrians or drivers of other vehicles. If a vehicle moving nearby
has braked, it is possible that it is stopping to let a pedestrian pass, so in this situation it is advisable to slow down and, having made sure there are no pedestrians, continue driving.
An experienced driver knows that if pedestrians
are young people, they cross the road quickly and it is better to overtake them from behind.
At the same time, elderly pedestrians are usually absent-minded and inattentive; upon noticing or hearing a vehicle while crossing the road, they most often turn back. Therefore, if overtaking them from behind, a collision will inevitably occur. One third of all pedestrian accidents happen when they are intoxicated, which leads to a loss of the ability to correctly assess the situation.
Therefore, it is usually difficult for a driver to predict how a pedestrian will behave when a vehicle approaches them. Furthermore, on slippery roads, such pedestrians have an increased probability of falling onto the road in front of a vehicle.
Therefore, upon noticing unstable behaviour of a pedestrian, a driver must reduce their speed to reasonable limits and give them a wide berth.
Statistics on road traffic accidents involving pedestrians on the roads of both our region and the republic as a whole indicate the
significant scale of this phenomenon, which has social, legal, and
medical consequences, leading to constant loss of life. Injuries that do not result in the death of the victim also have negative consequences. According to
experts, the injuries sustained can lead to various limitations in mental and physical
activity. Undoubtedly, as a result of the road traffic accidents that occur, our society loses
part of its intellectual, creative, and labour potential. The costs incurred by the state, organisations, and individual citizens to overcome the consequences of road traffic accidents involving and caused by pedestrians significantly increase.
In order to make the road safe for pedestrians,
traffic lights are installed, special
lanes are marked, underpasses are built, and rules of the road are systematically explained on television, radio, and in the periodical press, along with recommendations. However, the problem of road traffic accidents involving pedestrians cannot be solved by the efforts of the State Automobile Inspectorate and other
interested organisations and departments alone; each pedestrian must critically assess their own behaviour.
on the street, to force yourself to develop the habit of constantly observing the Rules
of the Road.
In case you witness a failure to yield to pedestrians at unregulated
pedestrian crossings, the State Automobile Inspectorate requests that you provide video files from dashcams
that recorded this incident (tel. 3-20-83, tel. 102).