Slovak road accidents down but fatalities up in 2014

Last year was the second best year in terms of the number of road accidents since 1996, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák told a press conference on Monday. The police recorded a total of 13,286 road accidents last year; 300 fewer than in 2013. Kaliňák claimed in this respect that Slovak roads were among the six safest in Europe, adding that Slovakia ended up as the best in the Visegrad Four group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar specified that most road accidents were due to speeding. "It seems as if many drivers didn't respect the fact that there are various seasons throughout the year here, and the character of road surface on a section they pass two to three times a day changes according to [weather conditions]", warned Gaspar. Among other most frequent causes of accidents were a lack of caution and talking on mobile phones while driving. "It's unthinkable for drivers to write text messages [while driving]", complained Gaspar, adding that the police are drafting a series of regulations to address the situation. Road accidents last year claimed the lives of 258 people - 184 men and 74 women. This was 35 more people than in 2013. Gaspar added that 19 motorcyclists died on Slovak roads in 2014, the same figure as seen the previous year. The number of killed pedestrians went down in 2014, falling from 65 to 57 on an annual basis. Conversely, 24 cyclists lost their lives in road accidents in 2014, which was eight more than in 2013. In addition, alcohol was detected in 1,582 drivers, which was a drop from 1,677 cases witnessed in 2013.