Road Safety on Motorways in Kazakhstan

This article, from a special issue on road safety, describes the state of the highways in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The author briefly reviews the history of the roadways there, noting that the largest part of the existing network was constructed between the 1960s and 1980s and corresponded to technical category III. With the rapid increase in the number of transport means and their capacity, the network was incapable of ensuring proper maintenance, which led to a general deterioration of the motorways and an increased number of accidents. In 2001, the Republic adopted its first national road development program, to be implemented in 2001-2005, which included the reconstruction of existing roads and the construction of new roads, the latter which were not lower than technical category II. In 2006, another Transportation Strategy was adopted, to cover 2006-2015 in which half of the 30 billion dollar (in U.S. dollars) transportation budget was allocated to roads. The author goes on to report that, despite these rehabilitation and construction measures being taken, the number of accidents and the severity of injuries have increased. The majority of accidents take place on straight and even roads with good visibility; accident causes are usually speeding and driving in the opposite lane during passing. Most accidents happen between 6pm and midnight and 50% involve drivers under 30 years old without sufficient experience. The Road Development program for 2006-2012 includes road parameters and equipment, such as multiple lanes, electronic traffic signs, light-reflecting marking materials, traffic control centers, and division of opposite lanes, that are designed to help reduce accidents. In addition, to protect the infrastructure, which is not fully designed to support heavy transport with high volume capacity, limitations on traffic are mandated during certain periods of the year (early spring and the middle of summer). However, these limitations are not respected by the majority of road users and the government does not have the capacity to control and enforce the limitations. The author concludes by calling for education of motorway users about the need for the protection of the roads.