Traffic accident deaths down 22.6% in March, Interior Ministry reports

Deaths caused by traffic accidents across Georgia have decreased by 22.6 percent in March while the number of accidents themselves also went down, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported on Friday.

The statistics are the first major update following a drastic increase in the number of road- and highway monitoring cameras over the recent months.

The ministry said the figures showed a 4.5 percent reduction in traffic accidents during the month, with injuries also going down by 10 percent.

In the other part of latest statistics, the number of violations on roads saw an uptick due to an "increased reaction" by the police.

The US Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement provided LiDAR laser devices to Georgian police officers last year to help in detecting speeding and identifying drivers and vehicles involved. Photo: US Embassy to Georgia press office.

The Interior Ministry reported a 127 percent increase in police's detection of mobile phone usage by drivers behind the wheel and a 106 percent rise for the corresponding figure for a failure to use seatbelts.

The more intensive work by police officers also resulted in a 63 percent increase of cases where they identified speeding and 44 percent more occasions of driving without the license.

Finally, the patrol police pinpointed 36.5 percent more cases of violating norms for safe manoeuvring and 5 percent more incidents where drivers crossed the solid line separating opposite road lanes.

The Interior Ministry launched a new campaign for raising awareness on road safety this month while also installing cameras observing bicycle and bus lanes in Tbilisi.

The body also released figures for road accident death and injury toll over the past decade, which showed 6,608 individuals killed and up to 85,946 injured on roads across the country over the past ten years.