The war on our roads
One evening during my life in New York City, I took a cab ride from Greenwich Village to the Upper West Side. Even by New York cabbie standards, it was a rough ride: the cabbie was weaving dangerously through Sixth Avenue traffic, careening right and left, throwing me against the door with every maneuver. The brakes screeched every time we approached a traffic light, and the tires squealed when it turned green. I asked the driver to slow down, inquiring, accusingly, where he had learned to drive that way. He said that he had been a taxi driver in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and had that was how he learned to drive to survive. It was a humbling experience. I did not volunteer where I was from.
Unfortunately, Saudis have become accustomed to an unusual, risk-taking, no holds-barred way of driving. This style has earned us top billing in the number of car accidents, injuries and fatalities. Official figures were published last week to prove such distinction.
A Saudi traffic police official revealed the tragic dimensions of road mayhem. In 2011, he reported that (7,153) people were killed in car accidents all over Saudi Arabia, or 20 deaths every day. During the past 20 years, over (86,000) were killed in car accidents.
The number of injuries in car accidents exceeded (68,000) annually. The financial cost was estimated at $ 3.5 billion annually and the number of hospital beds occupied by road casualties was put at 30 percent of all hospital beds.
The official described the situation as “road terrorism,” concluding that Saudi Arabia ranked No. 1 in car accidents around the world.
With those numbers, we were easily No. 1 in 2011, as in many previous years. In that year, Japan, with four times the population of Saudi Arabia, reported only (5,449) deaths. Germany, with almost three times our population, reported (4,002). In the United Kingdom, with twice our population, only (1,960) were killed in car accidents.
By adjusting for the size of population, we can make easier international comparisons. With a population of (28.4) million in 2011, there were (252) deaths per million in Saudi Arabia. Using this adjusted figures, we can see that Saudi rate equals six times Japan’s rate of (43) deaths per million, five times Germany’s rate of (49) deaths, and eight times the UK rate of (31) deaths per million.
Let us compare Saudi Arabia’s road death rate to those of Australia and the United States. All three are characterized by vast areas, with long-distance travel the norm. In 2011, Australia reported (57) deaths per one million, compared to Saudi Arabia’s (252), or five times Australia’s rate. The United States recorded (105) deaths per million, a fraction (42 percent) of Saudi Arabia’s rate.
It is no wonder then, with such a tragic situation on our roads, that police officials describe it as some form of terrorism that kills the nation’s young and old, but especially the young. Visitors to the Kingdom have not been spared. Almost daily, there are reports of horrifying accidents involving pilgrims and tourists alike.
Car accidents take place all over the world, it is true. Police blame drivers for accidents, especially those who drive way over the speed limits, while drivers blame road conditions.
However, when we become the country with the largest number of accidents in the world (adjusted for population size), largest number of fatalities, and largest number of injured and maimed for life, and when the number of deaths per million is several times international rates, we need to take a serious pause and go beyond superficial finger-pointing and quick solutions.
Experts point out that accidents come as results of complicated factors, including speed, road conditions, car maintenance, driver education, as well as the legal environment and enforcement culture. There are also cultural and social issues at play.
Car accident fatalities, as compared to mere injuries, are due to additional factors, such as the speed of emergency response and ability of qualified medical teams to arrive in time and with the right equipment. Quality of medical care in rural and distant locations is also a key factor, as is the availability of quick medical evacuation.
Car accidents in Saudi Arabia put tremendous pressure on the health care system. The injured in car accidents occupy about 30 percent of hospital beds, thus crowding out many others who need them. Next time you are in an emergency room, imagine how it would look like if we could reduce car accidents to international levels. Total economic costs of car accidents are difficult to estimate. I mentioned one official’s estimate of $ 3.5 billion annually in Saudi Arabia, but it seems to be on the low side, considering the high number of accidents and deaths. For example, in the United States, the cost of car accidents is conservatively estimated at $ 45 billion annually. To project that figure on our case, with one-tenth the population but twice the rate of accidents, the cost in Saudi Arabia may easily exceed $ 10 billion annually.
The overwhelming human and economic costs of road accidents certain cry for a swift solution. Let us start by forming an inter-agency, inter-disciplinary blue ribbon national commission, with a mandate to determine the causes of this national tragedy and map out the road to put it under control.
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