Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko has said he is satisfied with the behavior of drivers and officers of the State Automobile Inspectorate (SAI) following the introduction of tougher penalties for road traffic offences.
"I'm satisfied with how the SAI and drivers are adapting [to the new traffic fines]," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Lutsenko said that the police and media had done good work on informing drivers about amendments to the laws on traffic rules.
He said that the number of road accidents had sharply decreased since the introduction of new penalties.
"[The number of those killed in traffic accidents] has decreased by 1,605 people," Lutsenko said.
He said that of 81,000 traffic violations registered by SAI officers last week, 87% were serious road offences.
"We are not working with slight violations... It seems to me that SAI workers are doing their job well," he said.
The minister said that only two cases of bribes taken by road policemen were registered last week.
He also said that the "absence of a medicine box and a fire extinguisher" is not a road offence.
