Some 93,919 traffic violations were issued to motorists in Qatar last month – an average of more than 3,000 a day, according to new figures released by the Ministry for Development and Planning Statistics.

The figures, which have been released for the first time as part of the ministry’s third monthly bulletin, suggest that traffic violations for this year are on par to tally with statistics for 2012, when there were nearly 1.2 million citations – an average of 100,000 a month.

In comparison, figures released for 2011 were considerably lower, with an average of around 72,000 a month being reported – or 864,000 a year.

The traffic accident figures for 2013 have yet to be released.

The figures come as thousands of licensed drivers and vehicles join Qatar’s roads each month, amid a government drive to install more traffic radars and to increase police road patrols.

The breakdown of the violations includes:

• 18,000 speeding fines;
• 2,500 tickets for jumping red lights;
• 13,726 citations for for “not following traffic signs;”
• 32, 668 violations for non-specified “traffic offenses;” and
• 26,204 tickets listed as “other.” The report does not give more details about these violations.

Accident rate

Meanwhile, the number of motor vehicle accidents on Qatar’s roads continues to rise month on month. The ministry said 634 were reported last month – up significantly from February, which saw 572 accidents, and January, for which 397 were recorded.

While the vast majority of these accidents were minor – 563 in March – the number of serious and fatal traffic accidents in Qatar is also on the rise. A total of 71 were reported in March, up from 61 in February, and 50 recorded for January.

The number of fatal accidents – 13 – remained the same as in the previous two months.

The trend can be partly explained by Qatar’s ongoing population growth. It rose more than 27,000 in March to bring the total population figure to 2,144,101, compared to 2,116,400 in February.

The vast majority of Qatar’s population – some 1.56 million people – is male, while nearly 550,000 are women. March also saw an increase in the number of births – 1,789, up 186 from February – and fewer people dying – 183 for March, compared to 193 for February.

Regional breakdown

For the first time, the report also breaks down action taken against law breakers in four of Qatar’s municipalities – Al Daayen, Al Shamal, Al Wakrah and Al Rayyan -giving a snapshot of the types of crime identified and the level of violations in each area.

For example, it specifies the number of food law violations, stating that a total of 184 were recorded in all four regions. Most of these (148) took place in Al Rayyan.

There were also 34 evictions from labor accommodations last month, all in Al Rayyan. More details of these have not been disclosed, but it’s likely that they were carried out due to health and safety regulations, and violations of the so-called “bachelor ban” in residential areas.

Here’s the full document:

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