At the session of the State Council Presidium concerning traffic safety, Vladimir Putin pointed out, the most common causes of road accidents are consciously breaking traffic laws, aggressive driving, irresponsibility and lawlessness.
The President cited data whereby in 2004 in Russia more than two hundred thousand road and transport accidents took the lives of almost thirty five thousand people.
In the head of state's opinion, such a situation cannot only be corrected by making punishments more severe and increasing fines. It is necessary to have more stringent requirements for drivers' preparation, to create a modern system of first aid and emergency assistance to help victims of traffic accidents, and to make solid and long-term investments into constructing and modernizing road networks.