Change in the traffic crime rate in the Republic of Serbia during the first decade of the global action for road safety

With the adoption of the Law on Road Traffic Safety in the past decade, better known as the Decade of Global Action for Road Safety, normative frameworks were established for successful and efficient progress in the field of road safety, requiring strategic and systemic action in the prevention of traffic offenses. The basic task of traffic safety policy lies in establishing a protective system that will have long-term effects in reducing the number of committed traffic offenses and their consequences. In this regard, traffic safety management policy has a direct impact on the criminal policy of combating traffic crime. These two policies intertwine and form a unified system with inseparable connections, since greater success in the field of traffic safety management means greater safety, fewer violations of traffic regulations, and consequently a reduction in the number of traffic offenses. Today, as we enter the second Decade of Global Action for Road Safety, we can look back on the effects of the first decade. Analyses of the impact of numerous measures on road safety in the previous decade show that the establishment of a protective system in traffic contributed to a reduction in the number of traffic accidents and accident victims. However, the analysis of traffic crime rates has not been addressed. Therefore, this paper examines how changes in the normative framework and its application in the Republic of Serbia during the first decade affected traffic crime. Using statistical methods, the trend of traffic crime from 2010 to 2019 was analyzed. The research findings indicate that, in the observed period, the traffic crime rate was declining.