Traffic violations in Qatar witnessed a 12.8% increase from 2020 according to the latest official statistics of December 2021-January 2022.
196,185 traffic violations were recorded in December 2021, according to figures issued by the Planning and Statistics Authority in Qatar.
More than 140,165 vehicles have been caught by the street’s speed radars of which 2,585 violated traffic regulations. 18,866 persons violated traffic signs and 6,105 were recorded passing red light signals.
Qatar’s government has imposed fines on those violating traffic regulations in an endeavour to curb the high rate of road accidents. The fines are based on a points system that can lead to a driving ban if exceeding a certain number of breaches.
Negligence amongst drivers continue to cause accidents due to excessive speed, phone usage, wrong overtaking, deviating from the lane, not leaving enough space and wrong crossings.
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With 7212 newly registered vehicles in December 2021 alone, there has been a 23.8% increase in vehicles on the road, as well as a 33.2% increase in the traffic accidents cases since December 2020.
The concerned authorities have also enhanced their monitoring scopes by employing the “Tala’a” initiative, which observes all traffic violations on the road which pose a threat to public safety.
Alongside speed radars, mobile phone radars have also recently been activated on highways and other sub-roads.
“Within the framework of the General Traffic Department’s plans to reduce traffic accidents, mobile radars have been intensified on all internal and external roads, and civil and military patrols have been intensified with the aim of monitoring speeding violations through mobile radars.” First Lieutenant Rashid Khamis Al Kubaisi said, in a video released by the Traffic Department on Twitter.
رسالة من قسم الرادار بإدارة السلامة المرورية بالادارة العامة للمرور .#مرور_قطر pic.twitter.com/p3Jv7VIjlW
— الإدارة العامة للمرور (@trafficqa) December 29, 2021
In an interview with a local newspaper, certain members of the Qatari community called for enhanced penalties on traffic law violators and stringent rules for obtaining a driver’s license, as a means to deter reckless drivers from being on the road.
By the end of the last year, the General Traffic Department launched an initiative to reduce the accumulated violations by 50% aiming to encourage the public to pay for all their tickets on time and without delay.
This initiative will come to its end on 17th March, where stricter legal procedures regarding traffic violations are expected to be put in place.
The General Directorate of Traffic is constantly arranging awareness campaigns for drivers to reduce road accidents and the number of fatal casualties caused by them.
The latest awareness campaign was held in association with the ministry of interior in an online webinar, during which Lieutenant Jassim Al Ansari said that most traffic violations are currently recorded electronically using cameras and radars which cover the vast majority of Doha’s geography.
All vehicle related incidents and transactions in Qatar can be done electronically through the Metrash 2 application, including the recording of traffic violations and payment of fines, which are facilitated in way to be conducted entirely online.
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