RIYADH, 8 April 2004 — Road accidents are a major cause of death in the Kingdom and many victims are young speeders, said Dr. Mansour Naser Al-Howasi, deputy minister of health for executive affairs.
Dr. Howasi was making the keynote address at the inauguration of the World Health Day celebrations at King Fahd Medical City here yesterday.
The Ministry of Health, in association with the World Health Organization, organized Kingdomwide programs to highlight the theme — “Road Safety is No Accident.”
“It is sad to see that a number of fatal accident victims were Saudi youth without driving licenses,” said the deputy minister. He stressed that stringent punishments should be imposed on such young drivers. Negligent and irresponsible drivers not only kill themselves but also kill others, he said.
Dr. Howasi said the year 2004 would be devoted to creating public awareness among students and parents on the Kingdom’s traffic regulations.
Riyadh traffic police chief Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Muqbel said that 40 percent of road accidents were due to speeding and running red lights. “An average of 130 to 150 accidents occur daily in Riyadh,” he said, adding that there were 479 fatalities in 2003.
As a result of the installation of high-tech cameras on the King Fahd Road, the number of injuries and fatalities have been reduced by 60 percent, Col. Al-Muqbel said.
According to a directive from Riyadh Governor Prince Salman two months ago, the traffic department has intensified efforts to reduce the number of road accidents.
In 2002, a total of 132,000 deaths occurred due to road accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and governments in the region experienced losses of $7.5 billion due to traffic accidents.
