The Traffic Police sometimes turns into more of a statistics institution than a mechanism that should regulate the daily road chaos in the capital and beyond.
Tirana Traffic Police distributed a press release to the media, presenting previously unseen figures of fines against citizens who use vehicles.
If the goal was to fill the state coffers, then the Police have accomplished their mission; but if we are talking about improving the road situation, this is nowhere to be seen.
Police results show that last week alone, 4,744 drivers were fined for violating traffic rules, including using a cell phone while driving, speeding above the allowed speed limit, improper overtaking, stopping without a sign, etc.
Acts that undoubtedly deserve attention and punishment.
According to the Police, 32 drivers have been arrested or will be investigated at large. Meanwhile, 53 vehicles have been blocked as part of this operation.
Among the announced measures are:
§ Speeding above the allowed speed limits – 1,838 measures
§ Using a mobile phone while driving – 1,207 measures
§ Failure to wear a seat belt – 722 measures
§ Failure to wear a protective helmet – 653 measures
§ Failure to respect traffic order – 250 measures
§ Wrongful overtaking – 74 measures
At the same time, December is proving to be a significantly profitable month for the state coffers. On December 4, the Tirana Traffic Police announced the imposition of over 4,000 administrative measures, while just three days later this figure was increased by another 2,900 fines. On December 9, an additional 2,259 administrative measures were reported, followed just one day later by about 2,000 more fines. Although the number of measures imposed on December 15 was lower, 534 fines, this does not change the fact that, within just three weeks, over 16,000 administrative measures have been imposed in the capital for traffic violations, while dozens of drivers have been arrested or prosecuted.
However, ACQJ decided to make an observation on the way the city is managed. The lack of Police on the busiest axes, such as the Elbasan Street roundabout, in the morning and evening, causes citizens to stay stuck in traffic for hours.
Paradoxically, a few meters further on, as soon as you clear the traffic to climb towards the Sanatorium, a patrol is constantly standing by, ready to "exploit" the anger of any driver who, after being stuck in traffic for hours, sees a clear road and is immediately confronted by the "force of the law."
There is no shortage of daily fines that, more than anything else, serve as numbers in Police reports, rather than as a valuable lesson for erring drivers.
Another example from the field observation is that of “Myslym Shyri” Street, on the side of the road, a mother who has just picked up her child in a stroller and is waiting for her husband, who has nowhere to turn on the stop signal, since the bike lane no longer allows it, decides to stop for a few seconds by opening the blockage. But faster than the parent who closes the stroller and accommodates the child is the policeman on a motorcycle patrolling this axis.
He stops and decides to fine the head of the household for stopping in the wrong place. Despite the explanations the citizen tries to give, the policeman fines him 3,000 lek, probably more than the fined person's daily wage.
The policeman is right in this case, if we refer to the law, but the citizen is left with very few alternatives in this chaos that we face every day.
However, in this entire balance of administrative measures, an essential indicator is missing: the improvement of road safety. The Traffic Police has not published any data to show whether the increase in penalties has led to a decrease in accidents. Or whether it has influenced the reduction of traffic jams. Also, data on repeated violations on the most problematic axes of the capital are missing. Without this cause-and-effect relationship, fines remain simply numbers.
In the absence of a visible strategy for active traffic management, the presence of the Police is perceived more as punitive than preventive. Citizens rarely see the police at intersections where traffic is paralyzed every day. Meanwhile, they encounter them immediately after they are freed from the chaos, on road segments where violations are easier to detect than to avoid.
Traffic and chaos on the streets of Tirana are only increasing and further complicating the lives of citizens./ACQJ.al/
