Crashes claim 9 lives in Riyadh everyday

Nine people on average die daily in the Saudi capital as a result of traffic accidents, which constitutes 72 percent of the overall number of accidents, said Mazen Al-Ghamdi, spokesman for the Saudi Red Crescent Authority.
He was speaking at the Global Conference on Casualty and Accident Medicine held at the Security Forces Hospital in Riyadh.
About 544,000 accidents took place on the Kingdom’s roads in 2012, causing the death of 7,153 people.
“This means 64 accidents per hour and 20 deaths daily. The figure includes only those people who died on the scene, which corresponds to 48 percent of the actual number of deaths. This means the death toll could reach 14,306 in 2012,” said Saud Al-Turki, director of research on injuries at the King Abdullah International Research Center in Riyadh.
Over-speeding and red light-running cause 31 percent of road accidents in the Kingdom.
He urged traffic police to get tough on reckless drivers.
Al-Turki said traffic police ignore 69 percent of reasons behind accidents, including reckless driving and violation of traffic rules. Lack of strong traffic monitoring encourages reckless drivers to repeat their mistakes, he added.
“When the safety belt system was introduced in 2004, it reduced deaths by 14 percent, but when traffic police showed leniency in its execution, deaths and injuries grew again by 10 to 16 percent annually,” Al-Turki said.
Abdullatheef Nadukandy, planning manager at United Naghi, said the introduction of metros and other public transport systems would help reduce accidents in major cities. “Massive traffic awareness programs should be launched to promote self discipline among drivers across the Kingdom.”