road safety

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Abkhazia

Abkhazians block prime minister’s convoy to demand road repairs

by OC Media

•2 min read

Residents of a village in Abkhazia have blocked the Prime Minister’s convoy in protest against a long-running lack of repairs to the village’s main road. On Monday, residents of the coastal village of Shitskuara blocked Alexander Ankvab’s car as it travelled along the nearby highway between Gudauta and the capital Sukhumi (Sukhum). Having blocked his vehicle residents listed their complaints and demands regarding unfulfilled promises to repair the costal road leading to Shitskuara. Whi

Feature Stories

Practical or destructive: controversy surrounds new mountain road in Georgia

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•9 min read

The Georgian government has an ambitious plan to construct a road connecting the mountainous regions of northeast Georgia, from Khevsureti to Tusheti. It’s stated goal — to develop tourism and help locals travel between difficult-to-reach areas. But many, both locals and others, are against the project. They say it will wreck the environment, damaging the region’s unique natural appeal, and taking with it their hopes of developing ecotourism. A group of activists, locals and ordinary

Feature Stories

A new road with no drainage leaves a southern Georgian village in fear of flooding

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

A new road to Tskordza has left local residents far from happy. They worry that with no drainage system, the road will exacerbate flooding in the village. The local government, however, has dismissed their fears as groundless. Venera Sudadze’s house in Tskordza, in southwest Georgia’s Akhaltsikhe Municipality, is flooded every time there is heavy rain. Her house is close to the entrance to the village, at the bottom of the road. Water first floods her garden, and then the rooms in the house

Abkhazia

Abkhazia’s roads: deadlier than a warzone

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•6 min read

With between 60–80 road deaths recorded every year, Abkhazia has one of the highest traffic-related mortality rates in the world. Repeated government promises year on year to tackle the problem have come to nothing, and the death toll continues to rise. Drunk driving; speeding; reckless driving, especially while overtaking — these are the main reasons for the appalling number of deaths on Abkhazia’s roads. Ministers of internal affairs come and go every year in Abkhazia, each offering

Feature Stories

Georgia’s deadly roads

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•3 min read

On 22 March, in Tbilisi, a mother and a daughter standing on the side of the road were hit by a car. The 11-year-old girl died on the spot, while her mother was taken to hospital in critical condition. The police have launched an investigation for ‘violation of the rules of traffic safety leading to loss of human life’, which is punishable by imprisonment of 4–7 years. According to witnesses, the mother and daughter were standing at a bus stop when the car swerved off the road, hitting f