I felt great deal of sadness when five relatives died in different traffic accidents last holiday. Most of them were teenagers; only one of them was middle aged. Their sudden death from these traffic accidents was shocking to me and I am sure it was even greater on their families and mothers.
When I was reading newspapers on Eid holiday I saw many news of traffic accidents in which entire families were victims. In our country, the number of victims from traffic accidents is greater than the number of victims from natural disasters, non-vehicular accidents and violence.
If someone was comparing the number of dead people from war in Iraq and Palestine and the number of traffic victims in our country, the number of traffic victims in our country will be far greater. Unfortunately, this number is on the rise every year. The number of dead victims from traffic accidents, the number of car accidents and the number of handicapped are increasing every year. Despite the alarming trend I see no reaction from authorities and the public to put an end to it.
The authorities should step in and put an end to this great loss of people and resources. We are sick and tired of one ineffective awareness campaign after another. We need strict rules.
Ali Al-Ghamdi, a traffic and transportation engineer at King Saud University, said that traffic safety in Saudi Arabia is deteriorating due to the absence of enforcement.
The reasons for the lack of traffic safety are known and obvious, so why are they not fixed? Why can’t we learn from the successful experiences in Europe and America? Not only in these countries, but neighboring countries like Bahrain and Dubai? Why are we not taking effective steps to put an end to it? Are we satisfied with the increasing number of dead people from traffic accidents? I think there is a great secret behind this great negligence in solving this problem.
