Remember to wear your seat belt and stick to the speed limit or risk a hefty fine.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 25th of September, 2018, following the statistical indicators of traffic accidents from previous years, it has become clear that in the period ahead, from September to December, a number of traffic accidents with more severe consequences have been recorded in the past.
In the first eight months of 2018, 217 persons died across the Republic of Croatia due to traffic accidents, which is the same number recorded in 2017, and during the month of September, an unsatisfactory ”death trend” sadly continued.
In view of the above, in order to stop this negative trend, preventing traffic accidents and their consequences, as well as increasing the overall level of traffic safety on the roads is the goal of the Croatian authorities.
Therefore, police across the country will undertake, on a continuous basis and especially on weekends, enhanced activities with their top priority focusing on the prevention and sanctioning of the most serious violations. The so-called “four major road killers,” as well as misdemeanors involving mopeds and motorcycles will have the most focus placed on them, and this will go on until the end of this year.
Owing to these measures, increased supervision of vehicles and drivers was carried out from the 21st to the 24th of September 2018, the maximum number of police officers were involved, as was all of the available equipment used in traffic control, such as breathalysers, drug detection devices, and speed control tools. In the aforementioned period, 557 drivers were found to be under the influence of alcohol while driving, nine of which rejected being tested, when it comes to preliminary drug testing, four drivers returned an unfortunately positive reading, and seven denied testing.
Among the 557 drivers in whom the presence of alcohol was found, most were in the age group of 31-40 years, (136 individuals) while in the 18-24 age group, 134 individuals were recorded to have been drink driving, and in the 25-30 age group, 119 drivers were found to have been driving under the influence. The highest reading of alcohol ranging from 0.51 to 1.00 g/kg was measured in a worrying 274 drivers. What is particularly worrisome is the large number of drivers with an alcohol content measurement of more than 1.51 g/kg (77 drivers), and the highest concentration of alcohol of 2.77 g/kg was recorded in southern Dalmatia’s PU Dubrovnik-Neretva area.
A total of 4,856 traffic offenses were recorded, including alcohol and drug offenses, as well as a very high number of speed limit violations.
There were 1,887 speed violations, 710 seat belt violations, 304 mobile phone use violations, 93 invalid driving permits and technically defective vehicles, and more.
These measures aimed at increasing the safety of all road users undertaken by Croatia’s traffic police is set to continue until the end of the year, according to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior (MUP).
