Making Georgia’s roads safer:
Experts develop a National Strategy on Road Safety

Georgia is continuing to develop a set of documents that identify ways to make Georgia’s roads safer and reduce the high road toll.

Today the Government of Georgia announced it was drafting up a National Strategy on Georgia’s Road Safety together with international organisations and road safety experts.

Late last year officials announced the intention to develop a National Strategy on Road Safety and Action Plan on how to achieve the ultimate goal of improving road safety in Georgia and reduce the number of accidents and deaths.

Since then much work has been done to specify the Strategy and outline what action needs to be taken.

The Strategy represents a new direction recommended by international organisations and global experts. It is a vital document in view of successful, sustainable and long-term management of road safety,” said Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili at today’s Governmental Meeting.

Together with the Ministry of Economy, other agencies including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Ministry of Health and Social Protection, and Ministry of Education and Science, Tbilisi City Hall and others will be involved in [drafting the new Road Safety Strategy],” he added.

A special interagency commission will also be created and tasked with developing a long-term Action Plan on how the country can reach its road safety goals, announced the Prime Minister’s press office after today’s meeting.

Each year about 600 people die in accidents on Georgian roads.

Official figures from Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed a slight upward trend in the number of deaths from accidents on Georgian roads.

• 514 people died in road accidents in 2013;
• 511 people died in road accidents in 2014;
• 602 people were killed on Georgian roads in 2015.

Last year there were 6,432 road accidents in Georgia. This was a 7.3 percent increase on the 5,992 crashes reported in 2014. Of the 6,432 road accidents in 2015, 299 were caused by intoxicated drivers.

There were about 1.2 million cars registered in Georgia and the annual death toll resulting from road accidents was quite high compared with other countries in Eastern Europe, official statistics showed.