Economic losses from the growing number of road accidents in the Kingdom are expected to reach between SR 316.6 billion to 650.3 billion in the next eight years, according to Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Sweilem, KACST vice president.
“Between 1391H and 1432H, more than 8.18 million road accidents took place in the Kingdom, causing the death of 149,802 people and injuring more than a million,” he said.
He said in light of statistics from previous years, more than 1 million traffic accidents are expected to take place in 1434H. “If the present traffic system is continued, there will be 1,051,232 road accidents with 8,566 deaths during the current Hijrah year,” he said.
About 73 percent of the casualties were people below 40, while 30 percent of hospital beds were occupied by road accident victims, he said, stressing the importance of a national strategy for traffic safety.
Road crashes causing huge financial losses
