'Biggest regret of my life': Turks face road death warning

ISTANBUL

This week Turkey will see a staggering internal migration of people as an estimated seven million travellers – equal to the population of Switzerland – take to the roads and skies to meet family during the traditional ‘Bayram’ holidays.

However, as the feast to mark the end of Ramadan gets closer, both the Turkish government and experts have issued warnings on travel safety, with one man sharing his harrowing story of loss with Anadolu Agency.

The feast departures have already begun with many additional flights and bus services scheduled for the holiday due to the excess demand. Turkey’s Bus Drivers’ Federation says nearly 7 million people will flock to their hometowns to celebrate.

However, both Ramadan and the Sacrifice feasts are the peak seasons for accidents to occur. Last year, road accidents during the Sacrifice feast left more than 110 dead nationwide and injured over 620 people.

Mehmet Timur, a 41-year-old crash victim from Istanbul, is just one of thousands of victims of such calamities. He lost both his wife and his leg in a traffic accident during the Ramadan feast of 2008.

"I did not only lose my leg; I lost my wife, my family and my job" Mehmet tells Anadolu Agency.

After losing his wife at the scene and surviving in a coma for 11 days, Mehmet recalls: "It was nine-day holiday and, as taking advantage of an opportunity, we planned to visit our families in Ordu, the north-eastern province of Turkey. We preferred to travel with our own car; I would drive throughout the journey as we planned."

"However, I felt sleepy. I know I should have asked my wife to drive the car instead of me but I kept driving without any break. It was around 3am and I slept. Then the only thing I can remember is tumbling down the cliff," he says.

Mehmet’s story is not uncommon. According to the both Turkish Traffic Safety Association and the Suat Ayoz Traffic Victims’ Association the main crash triggers are speeding and driving while tired.

"Traffic accidents do not just happen as a result of destiny; ignorance and laxity are the fatal errors people make," says Yesim Ayoz, founder of Suat Ayoz Traffic Victims Association.

"Twenty-six out of 100 people who die in traffic accidents are children. One out of every 11 families is a traffic victim. We are destroying our future actually," Ayoz said.

Claiming more lives than terrorist attacks in the country, this “traffic terror” can be tamed only with education, says Ayoz: "We need zero tolerance against those who violate traffic rules. Even just obeying red lights can save thousands of lives."

According to the World's Health Organization, nearly 3,400 people die in the traffic accidents every day while tens of millions people are wounded or disabled. In Turkey, TurkStat statistics says around 12 people die in traffic accidents on a daily basis.

Despite hefty fines and sentences against those who break the traffic rules, speeding is still one of the main driving offences in Turkey.

Over 3,500 people died in more than 160,000 accidents in 2013, which indicates a decline of 6.8 percent compared to the 2012, a 2014 TurkStat report said.

Mehmet, who had been working as math teacher in private school before the accident, is now supporting himself as a tutor. Stating that the seat belt saved his life, he said his wife did not fasten hers before the accident.

"I lived the biggest regret of my life; drowsy driving was madness. How could I do something like that? The only thing I can say to drivers is to be very careful in abiding by the traffic rules,” he added.

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