108 killed, 1929 injured due to road accidents in Q2 2019 in Georgia

In the second quarter of this year, 1427 road accidents occurred throughout Georgia, resulting in 108 deaths and leaving 1929 injured.

The information was released by Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

A large number of the accidents -850- occurred with automobiles, while 58 accidents happened to motorcycle drivers and 58 to trucks. Three people died in the second quarter as a result of a road accident involving a motorcycle.

The official statistics read that in the same period of 2018, there were 1302 road accidents, as a result of which, 116 people were killed and 1779 injured.

MIA says the main reasons for the accidents were moving from one driving line to another, exceeding speed, drunk driving, ignoring traffic signs, and not keeping a proper distance.

Most of the car accident occurred in the capital city Tbilisi, where 26 people were killed and 841 injured during the period from April to June.

With the high number of road accidents, Tbilisi is followed by Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi - Kvemo Svaneti, where 19 people were killed, and 203 were injured.

The third place is taken by the Kakheti region, where the car crash in the second quarter killed 14 people and injured 133.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has tightened control over roads due to the high mortality rate in accidents.

By the end of 2019, up to 5 thousand cameras will be installed on the roads, of which 2.1 thousand are so-called smart cameras that over around 700 kilometers of the roads.

Also, by the end of the year, the number of hidden patrol crews will be increased, mostly in the cities of Georgia who will identify the violators.

The MIA intends to introduce an innovative mobile system for automobile identification, which will allow patrol police crews to identify drivers of various categories of risk and check them.

In addition, in mid-April, the ministry launched a social campaign called ‘For More Life,’ which aims at increasing people’s awareness about road safety.

Within the framework of the campaign, crashed cars were installed upside down on steel posts in Tbilisi and the regions, while banners and video clips were also shown countrywide.

In parallel to the new campaign, the ministry also presented a Road Safety Action Plan for the rest of the year.