MONTENEGRO: DISTRACTED DRIVING DEMARCHE REPLY

UNCLAS PODGORICA 000024 SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/S NANCY CARTER-FOSTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON SOCI UNGA MW SUBJECT: MONTENEGRO: DISTRACTED DRIVING DEMARCHE REPLY REF: STATE 6703 ¶1. Per reftel instruction, Post delivered distracted driving demarche points to Ms. Selma Mehovic, Head of the Police Directorate's International Police Cooperation Department, and Mr. Milorad Usancevic, Head of the Police Directorate's Traffic Police Division. Neither had any immediate substantive comments. ¶2. According to the records kept by the Ministry of Interior and Public Administration, there are 213,638 validly licensed drivers in Montenegro (out of a total population of approximately 620,000.) Of these, nearly one-third are between the ages of 18 and 30. ¶3. Offences related to road transport safety have been defined by the Law on Road Transport Safety. Article 18 of the Law forbids the usage of cell phones while driving and levies a fine of 20 Euros for the offence. In addition, a driving prohibition may be imposed for more serious offences. No other document or action of the national authorities exclusively addresses the use of cell phones while driving. ¶4. In 2009, there were 10,112 traffic accidents in Montenegro, resulting in 100 fatalities. There is no available data on how many of the deaths were related to distracted driving. The Strategy on Road Transport Safety Improvement, issued in December 2009, stated the main causes of traffic accidents nationwide include: the low level of citizens' awareness of the dangers of road travel; a weak "transport culture" concerning both drivers and pedestrians; the violation or ignorance of regulations related to road transport safety; and insufficient training of both new and continuing drivers. ¶5. The Strategy on Road Transport Safety Improvement proposed an educational campaign to raise public awareness of a safe transport culture via TV spots showing drastic examples of driving violations and the consequences of such behavior. Additionally, the Government of Montenegro will begin publishing annually the number of traffic accidents and fatalities nationwide, and compare those figures on both a regional and European Union level. There have been educational campaigns by the GoM in the past, but all of them similarly focused on the general issue of road safety, not the specific dangers of using cell phones while driving. ¶6. There is no available research regarding the effectiveness of the legal system in preventing distracted driving in Montenegro. ¶7. In this nation of 620,000 citizens, there are 1.29 million mobile communication devices, putting the Montenegrin penetration rate at 209 percent. In December 2009, over 110 million registered text messages (SMS) were sent nationwide. LOWENTHAL