A new offence has been added to Tajikistan’s administrative code in an attempt to reduce the risk of car crashes. Street racing is considered an office and if you are found by police to be participating in street racing you face fines ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 somoni. Besides, you will be banned from driving for two years. If you violate the law again you will be fined 20,000 somoni.
President Emomali Rahmon yesterday signed a number of laws adopted by the Parliament. Among them are the law on road traffic in new edition and the law on amendments made to the country’s administrative code.
The law on road traffic in new edition determines legal, organizational, economic and social principles of road traffic and regulates road traffic management.
Amendments made to the country’s administrative code provide for responsibility for organization of street racings and participation in them.
People found by police to be participating in street racing face fines ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 somoni. Besides, they will be banned from driving for two years. If a person violates the law again he/she will be fined 20,000 somoni.
Illegal street racing occurs when two or more cars engage in a race on public roads in areas that are not designated for an official car race. Also known as “speed contests”, “drag racing”, or “speed races”, street races can be particularly dangerous due to the high speeds involved, which can often take place in residential areas or other similar areas. This increases the risk of a crash that causes injury to bystanders, pedestrians, other drivers, as well as property damage.
Recall, speaking at a gathering on May 13, 2017, President Emomali Rahmon said that young, inexperienced drivers were responsible for nearly half of the 3,000 serious traffic accidents, causing 1,000 deaths, recorded across the country over the past two years.
He also slammed government officials and private entrepreneurs for letting their children drive "extremely expensive" cars to university classes, "putting their own as well as other people's lives in danger."
Several fatal road accidents in Dushanbe have been linked to children of high-ranking officials in recent years.
