Slovenia is facing similar traffic problems as many other countries in the world. A new traffic law, compliant with the European Union Guidelines, was adopted on May 1st, 1998. The main aim of the new law was to improve road safety by means of setting lower speed limits, by stressing compulsory use of safety equipment and by reducing the number of alcoholised drivers.
The goal of this article was to find out whether the new law had contributed to safer and more effective transportation system in Slovenia. We found out that the new law had some positive impacts. Aggravation of penalty policy, that concentrated in particular on new drivers with no experience, proved to be the right one. We found out that the new drivers did not step out as much as they did in the past, but there is still much to be done. We found out that today people are using safety belts and other safety equipment more regularly. The percentage of alcoholised accident provokers has also decreased. Nevertheless authorities would have to focus on this problem in future and introduce some specific measures (prevention measures, imprisonement of alcoholised drivers). Alcohol problem is a cultural problem so no major improvements can be expected in short term.
Data has shown that advanced technology in automobiles has had the highest impact on decreasing the number of fatalities on the roads. We can also give some credit to the new law, new highways and policemen actions.
The comparison of the situation in Slovenia with some other European countries has revealed that the road safety in Slovenia is far behind the level of European Union. Slovenia is in a very delicate situation. On one hand the number of automobiles is steadily growing while on the other hand we face large problems with traffic safety and law obedience. We will have to improve legal system, especially fasten penalty proceedings. Finally we will have to make our whole system work if we want to close the gap between Slovenia and European Union countries.