Due to the high causality rate on the roads UGCC hierarchs urge the faithful to adhere to safety rules

The Synod of Bishops of the UGCC calls upon the clergy and faithful of the UGCC and all people of good will to follow the rules of road safety.

This statement was issued by the Synod of Bishops of Kyiv-Galician Major Archbishopric of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on January 26, 2017.

The hierarchs has noted that in the situation of the armed aggression waged Ukraine, the news of fallen soldiers or civilians naturally evokes deep sorrow, sadness and mourning in our hearts. “But along with the other victims of the war there is another frontline that many people are not aware of, which almost daily takes precious lives of people of all ages, gender, origin and social status. This refers to the bloody harvest that our people gather on the roads. Statistics about this deeply impressive: only in 2016 on the roads of Ukraine 3,187 people were killed in 154,556traffic accidents, and the other 32,079 suffered injuries and of varying severity,” members of the Synod have noted.

According to the bishops, the reason for this pitiful state of affairs is not only the unsatisfactory and often disastrous state of our roads, but the failure of drivers to obey traffic rules and the most frivolous behavior of pedestrians, especially the neglect of the elementary rules of their own safety on the roads.

“This appeal aims to encourage all road users to very responsible attitude to traffic rules and to practice mutual care, respect and courtesy on the roads. Especially we want to emphasize the inadmissibility of driving drunk,” the statement says.

They also ask people to remember that failure to comply with traffic rules is not only a violation of state law, but disregard of God's commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”