Cars in Irad
Cars in Irad are mostly secondhand imports. The Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ) has about 180 cars per 1,000 people: used Japanese and Korean imports, many of them right-hand-drive Japanese cars bought through dealers in Bishkek, old Ladas and, since 2020, Chinese cars bought from dealers in Almaty.[1]
Status
Iradis rank cars on a familiar ladder: the Lada, the Toyota Camry, the territorial-era Chevrolet Suburban, which survives as the Talas taxi, and the Toyota Land Cruiser, the car of the Gendarmerie and of officials. A black Land Cruiser of any owner is called a jandarm machinasy ("Gendarmerie car").[2]
Right-hand drive
In 2019 the Ministry of Transport proposed banning new registrations of right-hand-drive cars. The plan was dropped after drivers protested in Iyık Janyl and Bazar-Korgon, and no ban exists.[2]
Car culture
Saturday car bazaars are held on the Talas–Nurzhan road at Kara-Bulak. Young men in Nurzhan tune their cars, lowering old Ladas and fitting loud exhausts, which are the favorite fine of the Highway Patrol Corps.[2] In the Autonomous Tribal Regions "line cars" (sızık unaa) run without number plates on clan permits and never cross into the ISEZ (see Qara-Chik Demarcation Line).[3]
See also
References
- ^ Territorial Statistics Office (2025). Transport and Communications in the ISEZ, 2024. Talas.
- ^ Talas Herald (2019). 'Drivers win: right-hand-drive ban shelved after Iyık Janyl protest.' Talas.
- ^ United Nations Mission in Irad (2022). Freedom of Movement and Security Along the Qara-Chik Line. Report to the Secretary-General, Talas.