RIYADH, 5 March 2004 - Fire Department specialists announced on World Fire Department Day that the Kingdom suffers from an estimated half a million casualties from traffic accidents annually, 12 percent of which are fatal.
Officials estimate the worldwide number of victims resulting from road accidents to be 12.3 million with 300,000 deaths annually and costing over a billion dollars annually.
More alarming however, added specialists, is that most of the victims are young. They also stated that the majority of car accidents are due to the prosperity and development the country. More vehicles means more traffic congestion and increasing the transportation stream between home, work and recreation. Traffic safety specialists pointed out that traffic accident victims exceed those of war and disease.
