/nginx/o/2017/02/09/6323455t1h0c72.png)
/nginx/o/2012/09/10/1310012t1h441d.jpg)
While the number of serious road accidents in Estonia moved up narrowly in 2014, fewer people were injured and killed in such accidents than in 2013, tentative figures released by the police show.
Number of serious road accidents slightly up in Estonia in 2014
Please note that the article is more than five years old and belongs to our archive. We do not update the content of the archives, so it may be necessary to consult newer sources.
In all 1,417 road accidents involving injury to humans took place in Estonia during 2014, injuring 1,732 and killing 78 persons. In the year earlier the respective numbers were 1,382, 1,736 and 81.
The number of accidents caused by drunk drivers was 148, smaller by 19 than the year before. In accidents caused by an intoxicated driver 206 people sustained injuries and 16 people died, respectively 33 and seven fewer than in 2013.
Veiko Kommusaar, senior law enforcement official at the Police and Border Guard Board, pointed out the reduction in the number of accidents caused by alcohol, incorrect choice of speed and shunning of safety equipment. The number of deaths cased by drivers under the influence of alcohol was smaller by ten than in 2013.
That the share of DUI drivers has declined is demonstrated also by the fact that breathalyzer checks carried out on the roads in 2014 revealed somewhat fewer drunk drivers than in 2013 despite the number of such checks being bigger by more than 50,000. Overall 700,000 sobriety tests were performed on drivers and 7,900 DUI drivers were discovered as a result of such checks.
«While the number of people killed in road accidents has been constantly declining in the past ten years, in the last three years this decline has been smaller and the situation has rather been stable. Where at the beginning of the year before last there was a four-month period when only a few tragic accidents took place, in 2014 the month of June alone was such where only one person was killed,» Kommusaar said.
In 2015 the police will stick to the same list of priorities as before in its efforts to prevent traffic casualties. The focus will be on dangerous violations that are related to speed, safety equipment, drunk driving and safety of non-motorized traffic participants. A bigger emphasis than before will be laid on reducing risk behavior.