In July 2022, the Asian Development Bank released the Road Safety Report Card for the CAREC Region, assessing road safety across 11 Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) member countries, including Turkmenistan. The report highlights road safety issues, national policies, and progress toward the CAREC Road Safety Action Plan, aiming to reduce fatalities by 50% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels.
Turkmenistan, despite being a key part of the CAREC Corridors 2 and 3, provided minimal to no data for the report. Consequently, the report underlines that the data provided is based on other sources.
Key Findings for Turkmenistan:
- Road Traffic Fatalities: approximately 823 fatalities in 2016, or 14.5 per 100,000 population.
- Vehicle Registration: around 850,000 vehicles were registered in 2014, with 4% being motorized two- or three-wheelers.
- Speed Limits: 60 km/h in urban areas, 90 km/h on rural roads, and 110 km/h on motorways.
- Safety Regulations: blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05, as well as mandates for helmets and seat belts.
Actions and Gaps Identified:
- Road Safety Strategy: a fully funded national road safety strategy is in place but has no targets.
- Infrastructure Audits: although audits or star ratings are required for new road infrastructure, there are no iRAP reports.
- High-Risk Locations: investments to upgrade high-risk areas were reported with no details on the program.
- Vehicle Safety Regulations: UNECE WP.29 vehicle safety regulations are not in place, with only regulations and inspections for imported used vehicles.
- Emergency Care: multiple national emergency care numbers and trauma registers exist, along with certification for prehospital providers, but no comprehensive emergency care systems assessment.
- Missing Data: There is no information on driver training, examination systems, road police structure, cooperation with international organizations, or road safety strategies and penalties.
The report highlights that based on the provided information, Turkmenistan, alongside Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and China, need to strengthen points of contact, foster better relationships, and establish clearer reporting lines to improve understanding of the road safety situation.
Due to insufficient data on Turkmenistan only general recommendations could be developed:
- Capacity and capability building with government officials in road safety management and the Safe System approach.
- Continued development of road safety legislation.
- Apply the vehicle safety standards in UNECE WP.29.
- Improvement of road safety data and developing a national traffic crash data collection system.
- Establish a road star-rating program followed by a road safety improvement program.
