Fatal traffic accidents down by 50pc

The number of fatal traffic accidents in the Kingdom has reduced by 50 per cent in the past five years, said the Director-General of Traffic, Brigadier Abdulrahman bin Abdulwahab Al Khalifa. The deaths caused by accidents came down from 7.36 for 100,000 people in 2013 to 3.66 in 2018, the official said, quoting WHO statistics.

The rate is the lowest in the Gulf region and the Middle East and reflects the continuation of the reduction of serious traffic accidents as results of steps of monitoring wrong practices and awareness activities. The achievements were as result of the directives of Interior Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Traffic, General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa to set plans to limit wrong traffic accidents.

He said that despite the increase in the number of vehicles by 36 per cent in the last five years, the accidents in general reduced by 21.55pc and the fatal accidents by 30pc, while the fatalities dropped by 38pc and injuries-related accidents among drivers by 41pc and passengers by 52pc.