In fifteen years, 23,2 million EUR has been invested in traffic safety from OCTA funds.
In the period from 2006 to the present, insurers have invested a total of EUR 23,2 million from OCTA funds in traffic accident prevention and control measures. This year, it is planned to invest EUR 2,17 million in various traffic safety projects, consisting of contributions made by OCTA insurers to the Road Traffic Accident Prevention Fund.
“The largest funding from OCTA insurers for traffic safety projects was directed in 2019 – EUR 2,21 million. This year, EUR 2,17 million will be transferred to the Road Traffic Accident Prevention Fund, which is 26,63% more than a year earlier. This confirms that the OCTA industry is gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels,” says Jānis Abāšins, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Motor Insurers' Bureau.
Half of the OCTA policy deductions for improving traffic safety are annually directed to institutions subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. Funding is also allocated to projects of other institutions aimed at increasing traffic safety and promoting the level of awareness of road users, for example, the CSDD, LTAB, LAMB and others.
“The situation on the country's roads worries not only drivers, but also insurers. Although we talk about the need to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the roads year after year, the situation is improving slowly. In 2021, 78 deaths from road accidents were registered per million inhabitants, which places Latvia in the third worst place in the European Union. Unfortunately, the number of fatalities increased both in 2020 and 2021, although we lived in the limited conditions of the pandemic, when work and other activities were organized remotely for many. The number of aggressive drivers has not decreased, and statistics from recent months confirm that a large number of drivers under the influence of intoxicants still participate in road traffic,” informs J. Abāšins.
"The increase in financial resources in the Road Traffic Accident Prevention Fund this year compared to previous years will probably allow the responsible authorities to work more effectively on solving traffic safety problems and reducing the number of victims and fatalities in accidents. In the meantime, I call on drivers themselves and every road user to become more critical - both towards their own driving culture and towards others - to observe road traffic rules and not be so tolerant towards aggressive drivers who shamelessly violate them," he points out. LTAB Chairman of the Board.