The Traffic Department in Jeddah announced Monday that it has launched an intensive campaign to track down violators of road safety regulations by setting up checkpoints on major streets in various parts of the city.

The campaign is significant as more than 7,000 people are killed across the Kingdom in road accidents every year with damages amounting to nearly SR87 billion.

“We have already started checking vehicles and the identity of drivers,” said Maj. Gen. Waslallah Al-Harbi, director of traffic in Jeddah.

He said the campaign also aims at increasing public awareness about traffic rules and regulations, adding that a large number of officers have been deployed in different parts of the city to check violators.

“We will be checking the violations that will have a negative impact on public safety, such as running the red light, speeding, wrong parking, not using safety belts and use of cell phones while driving,” the traffic chief said.

He stressed the need to abide by laws to ensure traffic discipline in the city and reduce road accidents. He also warned against those who tamper with the number plates of vehicles.

Speaking to Arab News, Essam Hassan Kawther of King Abdulaziz University said about 80 percent of accidents causing injuries take place inside cities while 62 percent of fatal accidents occur on the highways.

“Saudi Arabia loses more than 7,000 people annually in road crashes,” Kawther said, quoting results of a study he conducted in cooperation with Khaled Al-Shaabi and Yasser Al-Khateeb of the same university.

The study focused on the economic impact of road accidents in the Kingdom, he said, estimating the total annual cost of accidents at SR87.17 billion.

The number of people injured in road accidents reached more than 40,000 with 30 percent of the victims becoming permanently handicapped, Kawther said, adding that speeding and running the red light caused the most serious accidents.

Poor infrastructure, wrong overtaking, poor quality of tires, driver fatigue and lack of lights on some roads were other reasons for road related accidents, he said.