More vehicles on the road, but fewer accidents in 2016
Manama : Fatal accidents in 2016 have declined by over 40 percent compared to 2015, eventhough the number of registered vehicles rose to around 42, 000, official figures showed.
Last year saw 29 less deaths from traffic accidents in the Kingdom than 2015, according to General Director of Traffic Colonel Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulwahab Al Khalifa.
“47 deaths were reported in 2016 as compared to 76 fatalities in 2015,” the General Director stated at a press conference held at the General Directorate of Traffic Headquarters yesterday.
“This rate is 40.48 pc less than 2015. The rate of deaths caused by traffic accidents in Bahrain is 3.5 per 100, 000 individuals, while in the Middle East it’s 6.39,” he stated.
Shaikh Abdulrahman further clarified that statistics show that the majority of accidents were committed by locals, with 1686 Bahrainis involved in accidents in 2015, followed by Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis respectively.
He also confirmed that male drivers are involved in accidents more than the opposite sex, with a ratio of 78 pc.
It was also revealed that 1563 accidents were reported during the rainy season this year.
While announcing the directorate’s newest services, the General Director informed that more services are offered at Muharraq Security Centre, which deals with traffic cases throughout the day.
Services such as license renewal, international license issuance and renewal, replacement certificates issuance, new vehicles’ registration and ownership transfer are offered at the centre to serve drivers, especially those based in Muharraq Governorate. He also mentioned that accident cases are received at eight branches of the directorate in all four governorates.
Two million transactions completed
Shaikh Abdulrahman announced that the directorate has completed more than two million transactions last year, issuing 899, 000 driving learning licenses.
“96, 000 took the driving tests last year and 392, 000 in the past five years,” he revealed, adding that the number of registered vehicles in the Kingdom has reached 41, 653 by the end of 2016.
The official also noted to the continue the awareness campaigns conducted by the directorate in multiple languages to reach out to wider range of drivers.
The General Directorate of Traffic Headquarters called upon the public to benefit from the SMS messages notification system by activating the e-key in the e-Government portal to update the contact numbers for the traffic services.
He explained that through the new facility, drivers will be notified on traffic violations through SMS messages, adding that they could benefit through the portal from all e-traffic services.
To activate the contact number, log into the portal www.bahrain.bh and select the services of the General Directorate of Traffic. Log in the e-key or register for a new account. After that update the contact number and email address to start receiving the service.
Related Posts