Author: Denis Tahiri
Especially the summer months are the season of police checkpoints where, in addition to fixed patrols, drones have also been put into use. On average, 30 to 60 citizens are fined throughout the country every day (during the weekends), and yet accidents continue to cause tragedies and bleed national and rural roads as well. The latest police campaign "save your life, save your wallet" it did not prove to be a deterrent at all, while at its peak, on the national axis towards Vlora, during a car accident, an entire family was killed, due to the illegal speed with which a young man, currently in handcuffs, was traveling. But if you go back in time, along with the dozens of campaigns that have been launched, the road deaths from road crashes are a warning several years ago that roads and drivers are problematic.
1200 Albanians lost their lives during the last five years and the cause is only one: car accidents. The numbers are dramatic for the injured and maimed, where during the same time, almost 11 thousand Albanian citizens were officially reported as seriously and lightly injured.
The most problematic axes, both for ARRSH and for the Police, continue to remain Tirana-Durrës, Thumanë-Milot, Elbasan-Librazhd, Elbasan-Peqin-Rrogozhinë and Fier-Tepelën.
As far as municipalities are concerned, Tirana holds the first place for the number of accidents in 5 and a half years, where 4284 such accidents were registered. This figure is considered high and many times greater than in the second municipality, that of Durrës, in which 882 accidents were registered during the same time interval.
But even during 2021, considered a pandemic year that brought a reduction in traffic, the accident figures are frightening. In the first 5 months, 564 accidents were registered, with 88 killed on the road and 654 slightly and seriously injured.
Meanwhile, according to the police, the causes of accidents have a different dynamic than what happens on the ground. Car drivers are listed as the culprits, where it is stated that 2164 accidents were caused by the use of mobile phones and the distraction of control, from which 121 people lost their lives and 217 others were seriously injured. The second cause in statistical ranking is "Sudden change of direction", where 1123 accidents were caused, 116 citizens lost their lives and 152 others were seriously injured. The use of alcohol, atmospheric conditions, but also the technical conditions of the vehicle are no exception.
The "Tirana-Durrës" interurban axis is one of the roads with the busiest traffic in Albania, not only because it connects the capital with Durrës, but because it is the main junction towards the south of the country. At the same time, it is considered by the Traffic Police among the most problematic roads, not because of the quality, but because of the speed with which it circulates. As a black spot is considered in this perimeter, the exit no further than 1 kilometer from the overpass that leads to Tirana and the detour mark the victims and the injured.
Along the length of the interurban axis, the immediate exit is accompanied by the lack of a deceleration lane, while the intersection of this exit with the secondary road of the highway and a branch leading to Mzezez, has truncated signage.
"It is an intersection with non-functional technical parameters because the vehicles coming from Kashari in the direction of Tirana do not have a deceleration lane, which would allow the vehicles to avoid the lanes of the interurban road and slow down before to enter the secondary road. This intersection has poor signage, there is no horizontal signage," says Islam Qibini, a road safety expert, who adds that it is the duty of the Albanian Road Authority to intervene to make this warning as functional as possible for drivers and to prevent accidents.
And at this intersection, although it is not allowed, the exit of vehicles from the secondary road to the interurban road, this is something that happens regularly, turning into a source of accidents. Taking into account the speed with which vehicles move along the "Durres-Tirana" axis, the consequences are fatal.
"Not more than a month ago, I almost left this life only because of this intersection", says Elio, a 29-year-old, who works as a van driver with which he delivers food products to stores. "I was returning from Qafa e Kashari, when a guy with a "Mazda" car without looking entered the highway directly from the intersection. I only escaped because I was at a speed of about 60 km and the van managed to stop." concludes the young man.
The strangest roundabout in Albania
The Shënavlash roundabout in Durrës is probably the roundabout with the greatest public attention. This is due to the fact that it is one of the roundabouts that, as the experts claim, has failed in its conception and efficiency on the road, causing it not to play its function. This point has become the source of life-threatening accidents.
"The roundabout located at this intersection where there are four roads has been moved to the left. It should have been in the center of the intersection, so it should be moved to the right, in order for all drivers to enter the roundabout and then take the lane", says the expert Qibini, according to whom not only the layout is wrong, but also the signage is almost non-existent.
But there are many problems in the residential centers as far as road signs are concerned. In Tirana, there are dozens of points where road signs are missing, wrong, or contradict each other.
Rruga e Qelqi in the capital, or as it is otherwise known as "Kinostudios" street, since its reconstruction until now, several people have been killed in accidents. Serious accidents with costs in human lives show that this axis has been wrongly re-conceptualized and reconstructed. In many internal axes of the capital, even when the signage exists, it turns out that it is placed incorrectly. Such a sign is found at the Selita bridge traffic light in the capital, where even though the middle lane is limited by a continuous line, at the end of it there is a horizontal sign that allows the driver to move straight, but also to turn right.
"This issue is not the same as Kinostudio's road", says road safety expert Fatmir Hasho, who adds that: "in places from "Bardhyl" street to Kinostudio, the line in front of the traffic light is interrupted and it has also resulted in the occurrence of even serious accidents".
New roads, but no innovation...
Migjeni Boulevard, or as it is otherwise known in the capital, "Yzberishti" Boulevard, has given development to this area, but has also increased the risk of accidents with serious consequences.
Incorrect horizontal signaling has often been the source of accidents, where citizens have lost their lives. Residents say that crossing this boulevard is a challenge, since in addition to missing signage, drivers also drive their vehicles carelessly. Not infrequently, they also use the spaces of the white lines to pass from one side of the boulevard to the other.
"This is a problematic segment, both drivers and state authorities should be sensitized. The Traffic Police, the municipality of the city, which must exercise permanent controls in this road segment, in order to carry out the detection and verification of violations, since here the drivers of the vehicles are speeding over the allowed rates". emphasizes Mamir Hodo, head of the Bureau of Professional Engineers and Road Safety Experts.
Hodo also provides a solution to reduce the risk of accidents on this road axis, this option which requires the cooperation of the Traffic Police and Tirana Municipality.
"This road segment, I think that in addition to monitoring by the traffic police, there should also be measures taken by the municipality, which should reinforce the vertical signage at every pedestrian crossing. Tables that are placed from the right side, in some cases are not visible. They park vehicles in front, there are trees and it is not visible in some cases. In addition to the vertical signage system, horizontal ridges should also be installed. I call on the municipality of Tirana not to be ashamed to put horizontal ridges on the road, as this horizontal ridge will help us avoid road accidents". adds expert Hodo.
Audit of the road network, a body of experts is set up, but they have no budget
"In every road accident or road anomaly, the patrol service is obliged to notify the owner of the road, to take the necessary measures to repair or restore the missing or damaged elements", this is what the General Directorate of the State Police officially says, after being asked what are the problems identified by the Traffic Police in the problematic axes.
Also in its response, the General Directorate of Police adds that: "There are entrances and exits on the road without criteria and without respecting the distances and this as a legacy of road construction, or the lack of legal standards at the time of construction, lack of signage which has come over the years, as a result of the lack of inspection elements/ road audit".
But for two years now, the body of certified road safety experts has been established and they are functional as a certified body, but as the State Police officially claims, there are still no funds available in the budgets of the Municipalities and the ARRSH to carry out a audit of the safety of the national road network and urban roads.
"This was created in 2017 and has nothing to do with funds. The very European norms where we inspire to go require that the road safety auditor and inspector must be present in every country, but to be honest, what should be done here has not been done". says Hodo who adds that: "An auditor is independent, I don't need to depend, I just take the task from the contractor, from the road authority I get the work orders and continue to do the inspection and finally give the conclusions. I say to the authority that for this project, this is the plan, and this plan must sit on the table, it must be well studied and this plan must be executed. This has not been done so far." concludes Mr. Hodo.
The bills speak for themselves
But the bills show something else. The cost that the Albanian Road Authority has spent for five years and specifically from 2016 to 2021 for road signage is 2,697,227,076 Lek.
In 2016, ARRSH spent on signage 681,186,114 ALL, in 2017 an amount of 490,612,397. While in 2018, this budget has suffered a significant decrease from the year before, where ARRSH has spent a lot of 278,935,146 ALL. But the expenses increase during the last two years, where it turns out that for the years 2019 and 2020, 441,166,898 ALL and 587,626,521 ALL were spent, respectively. While the budget available for financing road signage for 2021 is in the amount of ALL 217,700,000.
Although hundreds of millions of ALL are spent every year on road signage, it still remains a problem in the Albanian road network. Officially asked if the wrong placement of road signs by road construction and maintenance companies continues to be a problem for the Road Police, the State Police states that:In the first place, the incorrect placement of road signs by their construction and road maintenance firms is a big problem for drivers and road users, since there are no clear rules "written on the road" in the form of signs. road, causes confusion, traffic jams and in other more serious cases and consequences in road accidents".
