Speed limit on highways to increase: Turkish interior minister

ANKARA

The speed limit on highways, which is currently 120 kilometers per hour, will increase to 125 km/h, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Nov. 18.

However, despite the 120 km/h speed limit, speeding is not punished under 132 km/h (10 percent increase), so the new 125 km/h speed limit will imply that cars will be allowed to go up to the maximum speed of 137.5 km/h, said Soylu.

The minister made the comments in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district during an event marking “World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims,” which is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year.

“The maximum limit on highways is currently 132 km/h, this is 120 km/h plus 10 percent. We will monitor traffic a bit more and then increase the speed limit. If we manage a good regulation here, we will take the maximum speed allowance up to 137.5 km/h, as we will increase the speed limit from 120 km/h to 125 km/h,” Soylu said.

“In other kinds of combat, police deal with criminals, look for criminals, but in traffic, this is not the case. We are not looking for a murderer. We are not looking for a criminal profile. We are trying to warn locals who are like ourselves, but who do not take the necessary measures. We are trying to make them more cautious [in traffic], ensure they do not drive their vehicles while drowsy, wear their seatbelts, do not go over the speed limit and do not use their mobile phones while driving,” the minister said.

Soylu also said the Interior Ministry had signed a protocol with the national Education Ministry and state broadcaster TRT, to raise traffic safety awareness in the country.

“We have established a traffic institute within the body of our police academy, which is a first in Turkey. We have again provided traffic safety training for 1,075 people who had the most number of traffic accidents in the last three years. With the ‘Traffic Detectives Children’s Project,’ we have so far provided traffic training for 6,594,783 people, including 4.4 million students, in the areas under the responsibility of the police,” he also said.