Traffic Police Day in Kazakhstan Date in the current year: November 23, 2024

Traffic police are police officers tasked with directing traffic or serving in a traffic or roads policing unit that enforces rules of the road. Traffic police typically include highway patrol (officers responsible for patrolling major roads) and police who address traffic infractions on other roads.

The history of the traffic police of Kazakhstan dates back to the late 19th century. Back then, village constables were responsible, among other things, for the tasks that are now associated with the traffic police. They monitored the condition of roads, bridges, crossings and telegraph wires, ensured road safety in winter and the integrity of boundary marks and trees planted along the roads, and reported any accidents to the district police officers.

Following the Russian Revolution and the formation of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, the workers’-peasants’ militsiya was responsible for road safety. In 1931, the Road Traffic Control Department was created in the Soviet Militsiya for the purpose of road traffic control, highway patrol and traffic law enforcement.

On July 3, 1936, the Council of People’s Commissars ordered the formation of the State Automobile Inspectorate (GAI). It was part of the NKVD (Ministry of Interior) responsible for preventing traffic accidents, developing technical standards for road vehicles, supervising driver training, keeping records of incidents and analyzing their causes, bringing culprits of traffic accidents to justice, etc.

In 1961, the Road Traffic Control Department merged with the State Automobile Inspectorate. After the dissolution of the USSR, the newly independent republics began to create their own traffic police agencies. The State Automobile Inspectorate of the Republic of Kazakhstan was created on November 23, 1992. This date is considered the “birthday” of the traffic police of Kazakhstan. Four years later, the State Automobile Inspectorate was officially renamed the traffic police.

In 2013, the traffic police merged with the patrol police to form the administrative police that ensures both traffic safety and public order. Nevertheless, police officers responsible for traffic control and road safety still celebrate their professional holiday every year.