Focussing on road safety in Qatar, the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) has pinpointed 5 accident prone areas in the country and also called on the concerned authorities to accelerate the work on pedestrian bridges being constructed in the country at several places.
At the 4th Forum ofStakeholder Coordinators of the National Traffic Safety Strategy held at Inter-Continental Doha-The City, between NTSC and other relevant parties, the Traffic Safety Action Plan 2017-2022 was reviewed and a target of saving 800 potential road traffic accident victims and preventing 2000 injuries due to road traffic accidents was set for the next 10 years.
The event was attended by Brigadier Mohammed Al Malki, General Secretary of the National Traffic Safety Committee, Dr Kim Jraiw, Manager of the National Traffic Safety Office, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Radi Al Hajri, Director of Media and Awareness and a number of authorities concerned.
The five accident prone spots identified by the committee are: City Center-Doha Convention Center junction, Al Khor Mall, Al Khaleej Street, Al Meena Street and Ahmed bin Ali Street.
To minimize the occurrence of accidents the committee has also suggested that a limit be put on the maximum speed at many locations such as Al Markhiya Street as 80 km/h, Convention Center 50-60 (km/h), and B-Ring road 50 km/h.
“A sustainable transport system is the need of the hour in the country as economic growth is occurring across sectors”, Brigadier Mohammed Al Malki said at the beginning of the event.
The NTSC has achieved 114 out of the 166 objectives of the current National Traffic Safety Strategy and by the end July the remaining objectives are expected to be achieved, Al Malki said.
The National Traffic Safety Strategy has a stated objective of reducing the mortality rate from 14 per 100, 000 individuals to 6 per 100, 000 by 2022 and in 2015 the rate had already been brought down to 7.5.
“Qatar has demonstrated its commitment to the United Nations goals for sustainable development 2015-30 by seeking to improve road safety and at the same time enhancing the efficiency of the transportation network”, Prof. Dr. Kim Jraiw said.
