The rapid growth of motorization observed in all Russian cities and, in particular, in St Petersburg has resulted in the aggravation of the whole complex of transport and traffic problems, the increased accident rate, jams, growing environmental pollution of the city. With the analysis of situation with traffic safety and of the tendencies to possible changes, the following measures are recommended: (1) Development of the programme aimed at changing the public opinion towards the need to improve the traffic safety level. This extremely important task is to ensure public support of the law enforcement bodies in their struggle with offenders of road rules and prevent confrontation of the traffic participants and GIBDD workers. The necessary prerequisite for the solution of this problem is redistribution of functions related with organization of traffic and control over compliance with traffic rules, with their assignment from law enforcement to civil bodies, including local self-management bodies, when combating crime is not involved. It is evident that the local self-management bodies, being better aware of the situation in the local environment, could oppose the motoring offenders, in particular, those infringing stopping and parking rules, more efficiently, etc; (2) Development of system of legal, technical and organizational measures ensuring inevitability of drivers' punishment for gross violations of traffic rules. The existing practice, when the GIBDD inspector sets the extent of punishment independently, on the spot, in the course of personal intercourse with the motoring offender, has no prospects for the following reasons. First, the personal contact with the offender and, specifically, the discussion of severity of penalty, leads in most cases to GIBDD inspector's serious psychological strain. Some offence can be subject to warning notice, penalty (within extended range) or withdrawal of the license by the inspector. The talks with the offender, efforts to convince the latter of his guilt and execution of relevant documents takes much of inspector's time and distracts him from control of traffic. The inspector should only register the offence. The subsequent punishment procedures should be further realized by the administrative bodies; (3) Development of the programme assuring real priority of pedestrians in road traffic. The drivers as more knowledgeable and organized participants of traffic must be entrusted with higher responsibility for road safety as compared with pedestrians. This task will require both improvement of schemes of traffic organization in the locations of intensive pedestrian streams and the change in the settled psychology of the drivers characterized by disparaging attitude towards pedestrians; (4) Relaxation of traffic intensity for account of rehabilitation of public transport and its development in the central part of the city. Achievement of growth of popularity of public transport due to enhanced frequency of runs and strict compliance with the time-table. Realization of measures restricting the traffic of passenger cars in the daytime in the city center, with exclusion of freight carriers; and (5) Speeding up the reconstruction of street network and road system, with repairs of pavement, development of more advanced schemes of traffic organization with expansion of single-direction driving and setting up automated systems of traffic regulation. The realization of proposed measures is a very complicated task for Russia, as it will require functional restructuring of all aspects involved in the process of improvement of road safety. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD no 207828. The reprints are also available at the web - http://www.vti.se/pdf/reports/K18APart1.pdf; http://www.vti.se/pdf/reports/K18APart2.pdf and http://www.vti.se/pdf/reports/K18APart3.pdf.
Samenvatting