Qatar records remarkable decline in road fatalities

Qatar has achieved remarkable improvement in road safety during 2018. It was announced by Director-General of Traffic Major General Mohamed Saad al-Kharji, the National Traffic Safety Committee secretary Brigadier Mohamed Abdullah al-Maliki and Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) Statistical Analysis Office head Brigadier Ibrahim Saad al-Sulaiti in press conference on Sunday.

The number of deaths in traffic accidents in Qatar fell to 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2018 from 5.4 in 2017, enabling the country to further improve its global record in terms of a low accident fatality rate.

The indicators revealed a 7 per cent decrease in accidents in comparison to 2017, 3.1 per cent drop in deaths and 17 per cent fall in the severity of accidents. The decrease in traffic mortality was by 5.1 per cent, while number of serious injuries fell by 17 per cent and pedestrian mortality by 17.9 per cent, the MoI said in a statement.

The achievement in road safety becomes more appreciable when looking at the increase in the number of vehicles in the country. Brigadier al-Sulaiti stated that the number of vehicles increased by 4.3 per cent in 2018 and driving licences by 6 per cent in comparison to 2017.

Furthermore, there has been significant increase in the population over the past 10 years, from nearly 1.5m in 2008 to more than 2.5m over the past year.

It is said that the achievement in road safety is the result of joint efforts by the General Directorate of Traffic, National Traffic Safety Committee, Ambulance Service, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and the Ministry of Municipality and the Environment.