Ali Yerlikaya announced: The grim picture of the Eid al-Adha holiday has emerged

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared the grim toll with the public in a statement made after the holiday.

Yerlikaya said, "During the Eid al-Adha holiday, 3,913 traffic accidents occurred, 44 of our citizens lost their lives at the scene, and 6,370 of our citizens were injured."

Sharing the information on his X account, Yerlikaya announced that they have established an investigation commission with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure to review speed limit warning signs.

Yerlikaya included the following statements in his announcement: 

During the Eid al-Adha holiday, 3,913 traffic accidents occurred. In these accidents, unfortunately, 44 of our citizens lost their lives at the scene; 6,370 of our citizens were injured.

The 44 citizens who lost their lives committed 54 separate traffic rule violations. These were:

48.1% were speeding violations

18.5% were lane tracking and changing violations

14.9% were due to failure to yield

3.7% were due to turning violations

1.8% were due to rear-end collisions, and

13% were other violations.

During the Eid al-Adha holiday, 18 of the fatalities in traffic accidents occurred WITHIN RESIDENTIAL AREAS, while 26 occurred OUTSIDE RESIDENTIAL AREAS.

During the Eid al-Adha holiday, fatal traffic accidents were MUCH LESS FREQUENT on highways where radar enforcement was conducted at 30-35 km intervals.

Details:

Thankfully, there were “zero” fatalities on our highways with a speed limit of 140.

On highways where the speed limit is 130 km/h, unfortunately, 2 of our citizens lost their lives.

In areas where radar enforcement is less frequent:

In places where the speed limit varies between 50 and 80 km/h, we unfortunately lost 22 of our citizens;

And in places where the speed limit varies between 90 and 110 km/h, we unfortunately lost 20 of our citizens.

And unfortunately, 14 of the 44 citizens who lost their lives were motorcycle drivers or passengers.

In the accident that occurred in Izmir, where 5 of our citizens lost their lives, it was determined that the driver's license had been processed 3 times for 'driving under the influence of alcohol,' and for this reason, the driver's license had been temporarily revoked at the time of the accident.

We are examining each of the fatal traffic accidents that occurred during the Eid al-Adha holiday one by one. We will share the details with the public.

As the Ministry of Interior, between May 30 and June 11, for 13 days, we raised traffic safety to the highest level, saying, 'May the end of the road be a holiday.' Our goal was very clear: 'Let us not lose even a single life in a traffic accident!'

In line with this goal, 68,829 of our police and gendarmerie personnel were on duty across the country to conduct traffic inspections.

During this period, we carried out speed checks day and night with 1,485 mobile radars. We conducted 6,339 hours of aerial surveillance using drones and helicopters.

We inspected intercity passenger buses with 3,000 undercover passengers.

During the 5-day Eid al-Adha holiday, the DAILY AVERAGE was:

500,704 vehicles underwent face-to-face inspections.

With 2,688 on highways and 12,465 on other roads, the daily average was

15,153 vehicles were issued traffic tickets for speeding.

As the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Interior, we have established a review commission regarding warning signs on our highways. Speed limit signs that reduce traffic flow will be reviewed.

I wish God's mercy upon our citizens who lost their lives in traffic accidents and a speedy recovery to our injured.

Dear citizens... Our goal in our traffic inspections, road checks, and radar operations is, as we always say, not to impose penalties, but to ensure that not a single life is lost in traffic accidents. Because every life we lose in traffic means a child left orphaned and a mother's heart left in pain.

I thank all our citizens who obey traffic rules.

I congratulate our Police and Gendarmerie organizations who have worked with patience, a friendly demeanor, and self-sacrifice, without pausing for the holiday or day and night, as well as our Governors and District Governors who personally managed the process in the field.