MADINAH, 2 November 2004 — Al-Salam Street, one of the main roads in Madinah, is notorious for the number of fatal accidents it causes every year.
The accidents increase during Ramadan because many pedestrians use this infamous road to visit the holy mosque. According to Saudi Red Crescent statistics, more than 200 people were run over last Ramadan, which is an average of seven accidents a day in Al-Salam Street, Al-Sitteen Street and King Abdul Aziz Street.
Madinah municipality built pedestrian bridges for people to cross the main road to avoid such accidents. People still insist on crossing the road the old-fashioned way.
The traffic department put “slow down” signs to urge motorists to reduce speed but motorists tend to ignore it and drive at high speed on this busy road. With people crossing carelessly and motorists driving at high speed, it looks like that this Ramadan will not end without fatal accidents. Arab News contacted a number of Madinah residents for their comments on the issue.
Ali Ahmad Abu-Dabous said, “I live two blocks away from this main road. I saw many accidents on this road most of them resulting in deaths.”
The municipality and traffic department have nothing to do with this problem. The traffic department put up a sign and flashing lights to get drivers to slow down at crossing points.”
The municipality built a bridge and a fence along the road to prevent people from crossing at dangerous sections. “It is the ignorant people who cause accidents. You have people climbing over the fence just to cross the street putting their lives and the lives of drivers in danger. And also you have drivers driving through red light when people cross and speed on this main road. If the problem is to be solved, then people have to be educated to respect the law,” said Abu-Dabous.
Mustafa Hajjaji said, “I remember, 20 people died on the day Al-Salam Street opened for traffic more than a decade ago. People were driving like crazy on that day and people were crossing merrily. There were no fences or proper sidewalks for people to walk. Accidents still continue until this day. People of Madinah know that there are crazy drivers, but visitors are not aware how crazy they are. The drivers have any respect for pedestrians. The pedestrian bridge is not of any help because people are not using it as if they are allergic to it. I cannot understand why people want to cross the street recklessly and risk their lives when there are safe places for them to cross.”
A police officer told Arab News, “Visitors to the holy mosque are the majority of victims of run-over accidents. People get run over not only on Al-Salam Street but also on Al-Sitteen Street, especially after prayer when people go back to their hotels and homes. We face a huge problem of trying to control the crowd and drivers at the same time. Accidents mostly happen to old women because they are very slow in crossing the street. We do our best to organize traffic and slow down drivers; but at the same time we urge people to cooperate and obey the law if they want safer streets”.
