#8 - JRL 7230
Interior Ministry wants tougher penalties for traffic violations
SOCHI. June 19 (Interfax) - The Russian Interior Ministry has suggested imposing tougher penalties for violations of traffic rules.

For this reason, the ministry has suggested amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations.

"It is necessary to promptly make amendments to administrative legislation," Russian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin told the 11th All-Russian Conference on Traffic Safety, which is underway in Sochi.

"The liability standards are vague and low, which promotes accidents," he said.

Chekalin also spoke about the system of traffic organization. "It is conservative and rigid and has not been changed for decades," he said.

There are some 15,000 traffic lights and 1.5 million traffic signs on Russian roads, which, according to estimates, are only 30% and 20%, respectively, of the needed amount.

The number of people killed in road accidents each year "equals the population of an average Russian town," Chekalin said. "One hundred people killed in car accidents are buried in Russia each day," he said.