The number of fatalities on roads in Slovakia decreased by 21 and the number of injured people by 158 in the January-April period of this year compared with the first four months of 2009. The Slovak Statistics Office released statistics data on traffic accidents for the first four months of this year on May 4 and they were reported by the SITA newswire.
The statistics also recorded an interesting phenomenon: a week without a death due to a traffic accident. It was in the ninth calendar week and this was the first time ever. Between January 1 and the beginning of May, the police in Slovakia reported 5,047 traffic accidents, down by 499 from the same period a year ago.
In the monitored period, 95 people died in traffic accidents, compared to 116 a year ago. Also the number of severely and lightly injured persons in traffic accidents decreased from 2,411 a year ago to 2,253 this year.
In 2002, Slovakia made a commitment to the European Union to reduce the annual number of fatalities on roads from the then reported 610 by half until the end of 2010. Last year, due to the new Traffic Code and the work of the police, the number decreased to 347, said the Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák. According to him, the number of accidents has been decreasing continuously for three years which means it is a longer tendency rather than just a coincidental change.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
