In the Navoi region of Uzbekistan, traffic police officers conducting a raid in the Khatirchi district stopped a Daewoo Damas minivan belonging to a private kindergarten. Inspection revealed that the vehicle, designed for 7 passengers, was carrying 20 children.
The inspector addressed the driver, saying, “This is unacceptable. There have been so many warnings about accidents, yet you still overload the vehicle.” The driver expressed remorse: “I was transporting kindergarten children in my own Damas. I was caught with 20 children in a 7-seater car. I regret my actions. This will not happen again; I have realized my mistake.”
According to Farrukh Yakubov, press secretary of the regional traffic police department, the driver was charged under Article 128-8 of the Administrative Code (Violation of rules for transporting people in vehicles). A fine equivalent to twice the basic calculation value — 824,000 soums (approximately $65) — was imposed. The driver was warned about the potential severe consequences of such violations.
Statistics indicate that since the beginning of 2026, 34 violations related to the transportation of kindergarten children have been recorded in the Navoi region, primarily in the Nurota, Navbakhor, and Khatirchi districts. In May, a Daewoo Matiz carrying 14 kindergarten children was involved in a crash in the Nurota district. The driver, the head of a private kindergarten, did not have a driver's license. The woman died in the accident, and the children were hospitalized with various injuries.
Following that incident, from May 1 to 8, traffic police identified 125 cases of overloading children in vehicles. Zoyir Yoldoshev, head of the department's information service, reported that in some instances, up to 25-28 children were transported in Damas vans, and up to 18 children in Spark cars.
Despite regular warnings and enforcement measures, cases of overloading children continue to occur frequently, endangering their lives. Previously, in the Izboskan district of Andijan, a driver transporting 58 kindergarten children in a minibus was stopped. The driver was fined, and a preventive conversation was held with the school administration.
In the Romitan district of Bukhara region, a driver of an Isuzu bus was found to be transporting 40 kindergarten children while intoxicated. By court decision, he was deprived of his driver's license for 3 years and fined 16.4 million soums (about $1,300).
Source: www.gazeta.uz