Primorye Deputy Criticizes Road After Fatal Bus Crash
Leonid Vasyukevich, a deputy of the Primorye Territory Legislative Assembly, criticized the condition of the Razdolnoye–Khasan highway in the Khasan District, where a fatal bus crash occurred, killing tourists traveling from China. He published a lengthy post on his personal Telegram channel «Golos Deputata» (Voice of the Deputy).
The Razdolnoye–Khasan route is a key highway constantly used by tourist buses, but despite this, it has long been in a deplorable state, which Primorye residents frequently point out.
According to Vasyukevich, the main reason for the road«s condition is the constant movement of heavy trucks, and the situation will only worsen when the automobile bridge between Russia and North Korea opens.
“Not a week goes by that I don«t drive on the Razdolnoye–Khasan highway, so I am well acquainted with its condition. Currently, on one lane of this »country« road, 40-ton dump trucks, long-haul trucks, gas carriers – whole trains on wheels – are traveling. Considering that the automobile bridge to Korea will soon be operational, and the tourist complex in Aleut Bay is not entirely off the regional government»s plans, the load on the highway will increase even more,” the deputy stated in the message.
Vasyukevich also considers it a serious omission that the highway is single-lane. In his opinion, this often provokes head-on collisions, resulting in serious injuries and even deaths.
“The executive authority, as we see, has taken the path of building a single-lane road in each direction. Another path is the construction of a modern two-lane (or perhaps more) road with a dividing barrier. Make five kilometers, but safe ones, to eliminate head-on collisions,” the publication says.
The deputy recalled that some sections of the highway are also very winding, for example kilometers 73–74, before the Narvinsky Tunnel. This place has long been considered one of the most accident-prone, but here too, instead of installing barriers and widening, they only set a speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour and changed the markings.
Work was also done on the highway in 2025, but essentially it was pothole repair, which only improved the surface, allowing many motorists to accelerate even more.
Vasyukevich believes that the only correct solution is not to repair the road, but to carry out a full reconstruction, widening it to two lanes and installing barriers, otherwise fatal accidents cannot be avoided.
“Despite the huge sums spent on such repairs, the highway does not become safer or more comfortable for people. And as long as the concept of «repairing the existing single-lane road» dominates over building new lanes, tragedies like the one that happened recently with the tourist bus will be hard to avoid,” the deputy summarized.
On 22 January, a fatal accident occurred in the area of the village of Barabash. A King Lion bus was carrying tourists from the Chinese city of Hunchun, and at the 56th kilometer from Ussuriysk in the direction of the Kraskino border crossing, an empty car carrier truck of the FAW Jiefang brand crashed into it, leading to a collision with four other cars. There were at least 14 people on the bus, three of whom, including the driver and a passenger, died. Five more were injured: three were in serious condition, and two refused hospitalization.
Later it turned out that the heavy truck was driven by a 38-year-old resident of China with 6 years of driving experience. Presumably, the trailer of the vehicle skidded into the oncoming lane, and he lost control, which is why he was detained as a suspect in the case of violating traffic rules, resulting in the negligent death of two or more persons (part 5 of article 265 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
First Vice-Governor of Primorye Territory Vera Shcherbina reported that the families of those killed in the accident in Khasan District will receive material assistance. By order of Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, they will receive 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,200 at current rates) each.
All materials about this accident are collected in a separate story via the link.
