Chynara Kasmambetova, Director of the PA “Road Safety”: “Behind every number of statistics on traffic accidents lie pain, tragedies, regrets, memories. Come and tell about your stories on the roads so that they do not repeat among others.”
In the format of Public Talks, an event was held where participants shared their personal stories and ideas on how to improve the situation on the roads and honored the memory of their relatives. And also the results of the competition #жолэрежесин сактайм (follow the rules of the road) were summed up.
Incredibly touching essay about the tragedy in the family shared Meerim Samiyeva. She is the winner of the essay contest to the day of the memory of the victims of road accidents, which was conducted by the public association “Road Safety”. The story of Meerim and Nora who lost loved ones and the stories of Gulzar, Rosa and Gulzana who were injured in an accident, deeply touched all the participants of the event and forced them to once again reflect on the importance of the topic of road safety.
Gulzana
“Greetings to all! Thank you for invitation! I’m a little worried, so I specifically wrote my story and I’d rather read it to you. My name is Gulzana, I am 40 years old. This year, November 30th will be three years, as I am special. For many years she worked in Almaty to buy an apartment for me and my only daughter. I was going to Bishkek for the funeral of my father, my colleague and got into a terrible accident. Usually I do not sleep on the road and I watch how the driver of a car or a minibus goes, it doesn’t matter, I always watch the road. As I remember, I saw the driver’s eyes in the mirror, as if he were falling asleep. I told him: “Are you falling asleep?” In response, I heard: “No, no sister, everything is fine, do not worry.” Then I plunged into my thoughts. This is all I remember. I woke up, I was asked the phone number, who can call. Of course at that moment I had no idea that my life was shared between before and after… BEFORE when I was independent and walked on my beautiful legs and AFTER when I can’t do a lot on my own and I constantly need help. Later I found out that our car collided in frontal with a bus, who went to the oncoming one, I don’t know so far, and it’s not so important. The driver died on the spot. I can only guess how terrible it all was. I suffered a vertebra injury, punched lungs, a fracture of seven ribs and a broken leg. First aid was rendered to me in the military hospital of Kazakhstan, although I do not know who, I am very grateful to them. After 7-8 hours, my relatives transported me by special ambulance across the border. We already had a difficult operation in Bishkek in the 4th city hospital. The operation lasted a long time and I was put on a vertebra. Since my fracture is not easy, with these pieces of iron I will be a lifetime. I lay in the hospital for almost three months, it was terrible, I was constantly lowered into intensive care, my lungs did not heal for a long time, water accumulated, and every week between the ribs with a huge syringe I pumped out the water that had not healed my wounds. At the moment, from the chest and below the sensitivity is not. How many of you have seen the movie 1 + 1, please raise your hand. ……. Remember the moment where he accidentally doused his foot with boiling water, and I can even prick with needles, I will not feel it. Hope this is all temporary. They say I was lucky, but sometimes it is so hard that I can hardly believe that all this happens to me. When people see me, and you probably think so, that I just cannot walk, but this is the smallest part of everything that is in reality. Since I did not take a picture of the spinal cord, I do not know my predictions But I believe that with the help of the Supreme and kind people, I will get up and walk again. Lastly, I want to say that this is all, race for money. Taxi drivers out on the road, tired, not having slept, to earn more money. I don’t blame anyone, but every person who gets behind the wheel should be aware that he is responsible not only for his life, but also for the lives of passengers and pedestrians … Believe me, all the money in the world is not worth living not such tests that I, my mother, my daughter and my relatives are going through …
Speech by Nora Suyunaliyeva
“ I am not an expert in urban planning, road construction, the structure of the traffic police, I just know what it is to lose loved ones. I became involved in road safety issues, because I went through hell, and now I cannot stand aside when others are tormented. I want no woman to wear black, because of mourning, so that parents don’t bury children, and children like mine don’t go without dad. The accident has 2 terrible features. The first is a deadly surprise. You live an ordinary life, you work, you rejoice, you are sad, you are actively promoting something or passively spending time, but most importantly, you plan your life as much as you can, want it and do not depend on external factors. The accident erases everything, just completely, there is no life, there are no plans, there is only memory, and indeed it sometimes fails. The second feature of an accident is scale, no one is insured, there is no vaccination, but if people drink medicines for the flu, buy vitamins, fruits, try not to go to public places for a certain period, then there is a very relaxed attitude to accidents. The state is struggling with the consequences, and the population, you and I, do not think about it, it does not concern us, for now…. And the victims very quickly turn into statistics, you know, like Remarque’s, “the death of one is death, and the death of millions is statistics”. And I do not accept this, my brother is not statistics, my husband is not statistics, these are people, these are their stories, these are their lessons, this is their life … It will seem to someone that everything we and all our friends and partners are doing (promotions, an open microphone, lessons in schools, work in children’s gardens) are just small drops, but Moscow was not immediately built and large, beautiful architectural buildings consist of small bricks! I will continue to work. “
And also the results of the competition #жолэрежесин сактайм (follow the rules of the road) were summed up. The competition was held from October 10 to November 10, 2018 in order to increase the legal awareness of road users and to draw public attention to these problems.
During the competition, more than 100 videos were received from citizens in the main areas of road safety.
The competition was held jointly with the PF “Pro Lex”, Traffic Police and the PA “Road Safety”, with the support of the UNDP and the OSCE in Kyrgyzstan. To participate in the contest, it was necessary to make an instagram video on the observance Road’s Rules.
