On April 12 Public Chamber held parliamentary hearings on  road traffic accidents. The Chamber has long been preparing for this event, but a terrible accident of the   last two weeks ago, when six people died at once at  two cars colliding  in Gudauta area, was the last straw.

         The circumstances of the accident once again confirm a moral reluctance of many to such serious thing as driving.  A man of  26-years old, who had been in Gagra for wooing and got a desired agreement on the way back was so happy that he started   doing  rounds on the road.

         The driver did not come out of the car like his ancestors to perform  happily a stirring folk dance, which would be natural and humanly expressive! No, knowing that he was taking a few more people, including two boys, began playing pranks and crashed head-on into the car coming from the opposite. Bad mindedness on the roads continues from year to year, and there is no end in sight.

         Deputy Interior Minister of Public Safety, Alexey Lomiya presented a detailed implementation plan of actions for a  significant change the situation in this area, but it's hard to believe  its execution in reality, if last six months people  again stopped  wearing  seat - belts in cars  -  isn’t  it  possible to control even such a trifle?
        
         Among the proposals  of the Interior Ministry, there is one with which they want to stop corruption of  traffic police –  to interest financially  the staff which receives from 7 to 10 thousand rubles per month  adding to their salary 20 percent of fines imposed by them. In this sentence there is a kernel, only just how the driver can prove that he was not drunk, if he really was not. Before introducing an addition to  the salary, it is necessary to work out a detailed scheme of protection  of drivers from unscrupulous  traffic policemen.

         Traffic Police Chief Azhiba Rauf, appealing to public for assistance and collaboration, once again highlighted a strange indifference of public to this problem -  young people  die and kill others on the roads, and  parents mourn their children, but do not stand shoulder to shoulder to stop this  outrageous ugliness.  Traffic cops never will handle it if the community does not say a decisive "no" to lawlessness on the road.
                                                    
         Member of a Parliamentary Committee on National Security Aslan Kobakhia sees the way out in installation of CCTV on all  roads of Abkhazia, but most speakers agreed that it is necessary to have a comprehensive approach in  solving the problem. A member of PC, Elena Kobakhia proposed a creation of a group to develop urgent measures, which also will  help to accelerate the adoption by the  Parliament of the most necessary amendments.

         In addition to human and demographic aspects this problem has economic value. For example,  in the U.S.A it is considered  that if twenty years old is  killed then, it means that the state lost $ 2 million invested in its development. How many tears we shed, and how much money is lost – is hard to count.
                                                              
                                                                                                         Nadezhda  Venediktova