Vehicles breaking traffic rules decrease on highway

An officer of the Highway Police Command told GNLM that the number of traffic violations on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway has decreased.
He said that 7,548 vehicles broke the rules on the expressway during the six months from January to June 2023, which was a decrease from the same period before COVID-19.
“Before the COVID-19 period, there were 16,717 vehicles made traffic violations in 2017 and 16,295 vehicles in 2018. After experiencing the period of COVID-19, the number of vehicles prosecuted has decreased due to less traffic and more people obeying the rules.
“Currently, the Highway Police Commander’s Office is working on two parts: education and action regarding traffic regulations. In the past, group educational talks and leaflet distribution were conducted for vehicles at the toll gates, but later, kilos were set according to the type of vehicle.
“There are two parts to traffic regulations: awareness and action. Not only the drivers and the people in the vehicle but also the villagers who live on the side of the road, are educated by the troops on duty.
“At the toll gates, we had discussions with the drivers of each 10 vehicles. Afterwards, we set the speed of the vehicles according to the type of vehicle to avoid traffic jams and delays: 100 kilometres per hour for domestic cars, 90 km for passenger vehicles and 60 km for commercial vehicles.
“In addition, there have been works such as the installation of road signs at the intersections. In order to ensure that vehicles do not exceed the speed limit along the expressway, and to comply with the traffic rules, the installation and inspection of vehicle speed measuring devices is also being carried out. No matter how much education we do, road users need to follow the rules”, he added.
In the first half of 2023, 53 people died and 162 were injured due to traffic accidents on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway.
From January to June, there were 83 traffic accidents on the expressway, resulting in a loss of K288.58 million. — 123/KZL