Road accidents in Estonia’s Raplamaa County rise by more than 40% — ERR News
In Estonia’s Raplamaa County, 324 road traffic accidents were registered during the first half of the year — more than 40% higher than in the same period last year, when 228 accidents occurred. At the same time, the number of people injured in accidents fell from 36 to 23.
Road repairs and traffic changes
As ERR News reports, Raplamaa stands out among other regions due to the rise in the number of accidents. According to Tuuli Perenson, chair of the board of the Estonian Motor Insurance Bureau, local drivers are twice as likely to crash into roadside objects — bollards, guardrails and fences.
The bureau has not identified a specific reason for the increase in road traffic accidents. At the same time, large-scale roadworks related to the construction of Rail Baltica are underway in the county. Perenson noted that major road projects, detours, changes in traffic arrangements or the installation of new traffic lights can temporarily increase the number of accidents because drivers misjudge the road situation.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Parking lot accidents
In a written response, police indicated that construction work had complicated road conditions in certain parts of the county and required drivers to be more attentive. However, due to lower driving speeds in such areas, the consequences of accidents are usually less serious.
Excluding the situation in Raplamaa, 40% of accidents occur in parking lots, 17% are rear-end collisions, and 13% are collisions between cars at intersections. Driving instructor Aldis Alus named failure to observe the right-hand obstacle rule in parking lots without a priority sign as one of the most common causes of accidents. According to him, drivers often rely on habit instead of paying attention to road signs and changes in traffic arrangements.
