Correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” report that the Ashgabat road police continue to stop female drivers and confiscate their driving licensees, regardless of a vehicle colour. Females are forbidden to drive even white cars.
Let us recall that since mid February law enforcement officers have been stopping the vehicles of dark colours and towing them away to car impounds.
Moreover, female drivers are being prevented from driving cars.
The bans are not supported by any official decrees or regulations and the police officers explain that the new rules were initiated following verbal instructions issued by the higher-ranking authorities.
According to unconfirmed reports, the restrictions were imposed by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. The ban for vehicles of dark colours is explained by his personal aesthetic preferences. Female drivers, in his view, are the main cause of road traffic accidents.
Radio “Azatlyk” has previously posted a video where a woman demands that a police officer should return her driving license and explain why her vehicle had been stopped.
The police officers refused to explain the reason and hid their faces from the camera.