Poor driving skills lead to traffic jam
Traffic congestion in Ulaanbaatar is increasing day by day. It is true that the increasing number of vehicles in the city is the main cause of the congestion, but another major cause is aggressive driving. Drivers are creating artificial congestion by weaving to get ahead of other moving cars. It is common for some cars to collide with each other and block the road due to such reckless driving. While some drivers lack knowledge about traffic rules and safety or driving skills, others tend to make abrupt turns and cause traffic accidents and jams.
In short, drivers who do not know the traffic rules are causing accidents and increasing traffic jams. Most drivers, if not all, know the rules, but they ignore them because they don’t care for others’ safety, in a rush or when they’re inconvenient for them. However, drivers, especially those in Ulaanbaatar, must strictly follow traffic rules to ensure others’ and their own safety and avoid getting penalized as surveillance cameras and traffic police officers are stationed everywhere nowadays.
The number of people injured and killed due to negligent actions of drivers is increasing year by year. Last year alone, 430 people were killed in road accidents nationwide, according to the Traffic Police Department Thirty-two percent of them were pedestrians, 32 percent were drivers, and the rest were cyclists. Of these, 111 people died in Ulaanbaatar, 79 percent of whom were pedestrians. In the first two months of this year, 37 people were reportedly killed and 226 were seriously or lightly injured in road accidents nationwide.
Traffic police officers say most accidents, injuries and congestion are caused by drivers with poor eyesight. According to official sources, no detailed study has been conducted on this but drivers don’t get their eyesight checked every year, and new drivers just fill in their own medical records, which is a big fault in the system.
Most drivers who got into accidents report that they didn’t see the traffic light change or couldn’t distinguish colors, according to the Traffic Police Department. However, it is not considered a medical accident, so there are no detailed statistics or studies on it.
Driving courses usually require a medical form to be filled out before a new driver’s license can be issued. The biggest test is vision and color perception. If you do not meet this criterion, you can’t get a driving license. However, some driving schools do not deny that even if some people do not meet the above criteria, they become drivers.
Head of the Jonbees Driving School S.Narantuya said, “By learning traffic rules and learning to drive, people become qualified drivers. But when they drive, they often get angry on the road. As a result, they make big mistakes and cause traffic accidents. Also, the health requirements of the driver must be met. The medical record must include a signature from a specialist who tested the person’s vision, hearing, mental illness, trauma, and neurology. The biggest criteria for becoming a driver are vision and color perception. Some people do not distinguish colors. For example, red, yellow, and green lights come on in sequence. However, red is sometimes seen as green. Therefore, a diagnosis must be done by a specialist. Sometimes people become drivers even though they cannot see things clearly.”
What if a doctor gives a “healthy” diagnosis to a person who is visually impaired and that person becomes a driver and gets into an accident? Who is to take responsibility for this? Of course, a doctor who denies a diagnosis should be held accountable, the driver’s license should be suspended, and strict accountability measures should be taken. Tougher punishment could be another way to reduce congestion.
Head of the Traffic Management Center D.Odbayar clarified whether it is possible to reduce traffic congestion under such regulations and commented on human rights. “Towing away the driver’s car and taking action against irresponsible doctors will raise human rights issues,” he said. According to him, such an accident is likely to occur due to technical failures rather than the driver’s poor vision. In particular, most drivers get into traffic accidents because of slippery roads and lack of technical integrity during cold seasons. D.Odbayar says this has “nothing to do with a person’s vision”.
He said, “Drivers don’t follow the rules. They must stop at a red light, but they speed up when the yellow light is on and end up in a collision. In some cases, drivers say they did not see the traffic light change because of weather-related factors. Therefore, it has nothing to do with human vision. There is no research on this.”
Driving schools and other professional organizations do not pay much attention to ensuring drivers are ready to participate in traffic movement or their health conditions. In foreign countries, such as South Korea and Japan, drivers are screened every year to ensure they are healthy enough to drive safely. Unfortunately, in Mongolia, people are asked to fill in a medical form when they pass the driver’s test to get a license. In short, there is no control over the participation of drivers with poor eyesight in traffic movement.
Head of Specialized Inspection Division of the Registration and Inspection Center of the General Police Department B.Lkhagvasuren said, “. Internationally, it is less than 80 percent. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to driver training. The police are working with training centers to introduce and improve equipment and technology for driving tests. However, there is a crucial need for regular retraining for new and advanced drivers. After people get their driving license, they are never required to undergo training again unless they get their license revoked or need it to be renewed. However, traffic rules and regulations change. We believe that retraining should be conducted to introduce all of the new changes made to the regulation. Drivers should also re-take driving skills tests. So retraining is very important.”
In 1996, the private sector started training drivers. Since then, many training centers have been established in both urban and provincial areas. As traffic increases, so does the responsibility of drivers. Training centers need to focus on training good drivers. Also, drivers themselves should treat each other with respect. It should be noted that some drivers lack the discipline and ethics to drive, putting everyone at risk, including themselves.
There are 1.4 million drivers nationwide. A lack of knowledge and experience of drivers on traffic safety has become a growing concern and cause of traffic accidents and violations. Violations dependent on the driver, such as using or talking on the phone while driving, driving long distances while dozing off, and speeding, continue to increase in the country. Therefore, it is necessary to train drivers properly from the very beginning, have them undergo health checkups (especially for eyesight) every year, get their driving skills tested regularly and make them more responsible to ensure traffic safety and curb traffic congestion.
There are many causes of road accidents, but it is noteworthy that bad driving accounts for the highest rate of accidents in the country, at over 90 percent..