Drivers in Turkey to have licenses suspended if red light violations repeated: Minister

The government is working on a regulation to have drivers' licenses temporarily suspended if they commit a red light violation twice, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated on Sept. 12.

"In the event of a repetition of red light violations, along with the imposition of a monetary fine the temporary suspension of the driver's license will come into effect," Soylu said.

Speaking in Ankara during a workshop titled "Traffic Safety and Road Transportation," he noted that over the last five years 140 citizens have been killed and 35,573 have been injured in 17,682 road accidents.

An average of 20 people lose their lives in road accidents every day in Turkey, Soylu said, adding that these accidents cost the country around 38.9 billion Turkish Liras every year. 

The minister also touched on other precautions that the ministry is considering in a bid to reduce traffic accidents. 

"In the hours and days when traffic is particularly busy, [traffic police] teams will be more visible. The weight will be on the areas where the accidents are particularly intense," Soylu said. 

Although Turkey's population has increased by 8.3 percent since 2010, the number of people holding driving licenses has increased by 33.4 percent in the same period, reaching to 28.7 million. 

The number of motor vehicles in Turkey was 15,095,603 in 2013, while this figure had risen to 21,763,103 as of July 2017, Soylu noted. 

The workshop in Ankara was also attended by the Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz, Transportation Minister Ahmet Arslan, and Police Chief Selami Altınok.