Systemic traffic violations, rising accident rates, and the actual loss of the preventive role of fines have become subjects of discussion in the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Parliamentarians are advocating for stricter liability for systemic traffic violations and the introduction of average speed control.

Senator Marat Kozhaev sent a corresponding parliamentary inquiry to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

According to the senator, the problem has long gone beyond isolated incidents and has become persistent, especially in large cities.

He is referring to regular speeding, aggressive driving, and the blatant disregard for safety requirements.

– The reason for this parliamentary inquiry was yet another tragedy on the roads, in which young people died – lives cut short due to human arrogance and blatant disregard for traffic rules and citizen safety, – the senator noted.

Marat Kozhaev emphasized that these cases demonstrate the systemic nature of the violations.

– Each such tragedy reaffirms that the problem of dangerous and systemic violations of traffic rules in the country has long gone beyond isolated episodes and, unfortunately, shows a trend of steady growth, – he stated.

The senator paid special attention to large cities, where aggressive driving has become part of everyday reality.

– This problem is particularly acute in large cities, where residents daily encounter aggressive driving, speeding, nighttime street racing, and the blatant disregard for road safety requirements, – noted the Senate deputy.

He then assessed the current system of administrative penalties and noted its limitations.

– However, what is particularly alarming is the fact that for some drivers, administrative fines have effectively ceased to serve a preventive function and have turned into an acceptable fee for risky behavior, – emphasized Marat Kozhaev.

The senator explained that violators perceive fines merely as expenses.

– When financial means are available, fines do not fully achieve the goals of crime prevention and are perceived by some repeat offenders as incidental expenses for speeding, for comfort, and for permissiveness, – the deputy noted.

He stated that this practice creates a dangerous model of behavior on the roads.

– This situation undermines the principle of equality of road users before the law and creates a dangerous behavior model whereby a systematic violator continues to stay behind the wheel until their actions lead to grave consequences, – reported the author of the inquiry.

He recalled how the existing violation recording system worked.

– Thus, the driver effectively learns not to obey the Traffic Rules, but to circumvent the recording system, which undermines the very idea of the law, – emphasized the senator.

Marat Kozhaev added that point‑based speed recording does not fully solve the problem.

– In this regard, we consider it necessary to further improve mechanisms for recording speeding violations, – proposed Marat Kozhaev.

He believes it is advisable to expand average speed control, which, in his words, would make it possible to record the actual behavior of drivers over the entire length of the road.

In conclusion, the senator focused on a comprehensive review of the liability model.

– If a fine for some violators turns into a fee for the right to ignore the law, then the previous model of deterrence no longer fulfills its function and requires revision, – he emphasized.

In his opinion, the key element should be identifying the systemic nature of violations.

– State policy in the field of road safety should be based not only on recording individual violations, but also on the mandatory identification of their systemic nature. Otherwise, the price of delay is inevitably measured in human lives, – added the Senate deputy.

By Linara SAKTAGANOVA
Astana