A total of 19 people were killed on Qatar’s roads last month, down significantly from the 29 killed in April, but the number of overall traffic accidents continue to climb, according to newly released government statistics.
May’s fatality rate is still somewhat higher than the number of people killed on the roads earlier this year, which stood at 13 each in February and March.
The numbers come as authorities begin introducing a Ramadan road safety campaign to bring down the volume of traffic incidents in the coming month.
Fasting in Ramadan officially began today, and there is often a peak in traffic accidents during this time, particularly in the evenings when people are rushing to pray and to break their fast.
Breakdown
According to the Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, which released the figures in its Qatar Monthly Statistics report for May this week, there were some 28,152 accidents last month – compared to 26,477 accidents in April.
Some 57 of the May accidents were recorded as major and 578 as minor.
The number of people caught by radar for speeding is also on the rise, with 87,123 recorded violations for May – up 13.3 percent from April’s figure of 76,884.
There was also a jump in the number of people caught “breaking traffic signals,” or jumping red lights. The May figures stand at 2,196 – an increase of 8.7 percent from April’s tally of 2,020.
However, fewer people were ticketed for not following traffic signs. Some 10,852 people were recorded for that offense in May, which is down by one third from April’s 17,095 such incidents.
Other statistics
Overall, the total number of traffic violations for May – 158,300 was slightly down on April’s tally of 160,995.
Other figures include:
- A 63 percent increase in the non-renewal of driving licences – 572 recorded cases for May, compared to 351 for April;
- A decrease in the number of unspecified “traffic offenses” – 36,507 for May, versus 39,585 for April; and
- A reduction in the number of “other offenses” (again, not defined in the report) – 20,482 for May versus 24,439 for April.
Many of these increases can in part be attributed to Qatar’s burgeoning population, which rose by nearly 1 percent in May to 2.174 million.
There were also more cars on the road, as 8,144 new driving licenses were issued for May, with 96 percent of them going to non-Qataris.
Ramadan Road safety
These latest figures are announced as the Ministry of Interior and Qatargas launch their annual Ramadan Road Safety campaign, under the slogan “Precious Moments…don’t waste them through reckless behavior. Drive safely.”
The campaign aims to cut the number of accidents and casualties and to boost public awareness.
Traffic Department Director Brig. Mohamed Sadd al-Kharji is quoted in the Gulf Times saying that traffic police will be deployed in key areas during Ramadan in a bid to ease congestion.
A Qatargas road safety advert will run on Al Rayyan TV throughout Ramandan, and in cinemas during Eid, highlighting the tragic effect of road accidents on family and friends.
The full MDPS report for May can be found on the MDPS website, or viewed below:
Thoughts?
What’s with the 96% of new licenses issued going to non-Qataris quip? Especially when mentioned in the same breath as offering explanations for an increase in traffic fatalities.
I’m sure it wasn’t malicious, but it reads like something Al-Raya would print.
Keep your standards up DN.
Ya DN ! you should twist these facts and wrap it up in a way to show that X people are the only ones responsible. This way Firas Zgti will be very pleased. DN, you should listen to Firas.زلمه و يتكلم عن السواقه
Perhaps you’d like to be racist in a language the moderators can understand next time…?
Zalama is what your people call themselves, don’t even try using the racism card. Specially after the Qatari/non-Qatari discrimination we see in all of your comments.
What are you talking about?
Hmm after you claiming that people questioning the Qatar 2022 bid is racist, your comment is a bit rich!
Anyways Firas was merely asking you to construct a legible sentence next time, so we can understand what you are talking about!
Would you like some salsa with that chip on your shoulder?
you have such an agressive personality
It’s well established that there are terrible drivers here of all nationalities. Cracking down on everybody would be the solution, not cherry-picking any specific group.
If the rise in accidents and violations can be attributed to this group, by official records, then it is suggesting that the driving schools are not preparing their students properly and the test centres are allowing drivers out on the road before they are ready.
Perhaps it just means there are more cars on the road for out of control Landcruisers to career into..
Having spoken to a numebr of nationalities all seem to be able to operate car, but its those other ‘rules of the road’ that are not consistent across all nationalities. For example, in the UK flashing your lights means letting someone out of a junction, but in India it is the opposite. This leads to confusion and collisions.
Again in the UK when changing lanes the car chaning lanes is responsible for all those other road users around and to ensure that the move you are about to make is safe. In other nations you only are responbile for those cars that are from the drivers position forward. If you are behind this point you have to get out of the way of the moving car.
Don’t even get me started on roundabouts.
What i’m try to say is that Qatar needs a set of universal rules that everyone is taught and made aware of, even tested on. This I’m sure will begin to reduce collisions.
How many people know the stopping distances for cars? I’m guessing if they knew this most wouldn’t be driving so close they could change the radio station of my car……….
I agree many soon to be drivers come here having never seen large road infrastructure, cloverleafs, 6 lanes etc. Some come from countries with different rules, in some it’s not required to turn on lights at night, wear belts, roundaboutsetc etc. instead of every month we get the same report on a report from DN, why not try to start change. DN ask these departments when the public can expect a road user manual. Similar to what we are given at home, while we study for our license, easy to read, pictures. I have to admit I don’t know all the rules here and how they might be different to NZ, I got my license here in 10mins with a nod and a smile. Start to pressure these departments for simple regulation that is proven to save lives, like everyone in a vehicle has to wear a belt and baby seat regulation. Reports on reports achieve nothing. The people need to start asking questions of these officials, and the media can provide a vehicle (haha) for this and communicating citizens concerns.
I would pay to see DN interview the person in charge of road safety and ask them directly why they refuse to enforce the current legislation. Why don’t they stop people roadside and ticket them?????????????/
It wasn’t a quip, it was more to inform people of how quickly the population is growing.
what do you expect – nobody seems to care about dangerous driving and there is scant regard for the lives of other road users !
Do the Traffic Police have statistics on the nationality, age and gender of the main offenders, so that they can take steps to target these groups?
Of course they do its on your ID but no way would they publish that. It would make uncomfortable reading for some. It would also mean they would have to do something about it.
It does not matter where the offenders come from but until the police start to act like real police and enforce the law the killing will continue. It is simple, things would change if the law was enforced. So long as there are no real penalties for dangerous driving it will continue. Safest thing is just to stay off the roads as much as possible.
Racial profiling is hardly ethical policing. How about just consistent application of the road laws across the whole community. Too much to ask for? Probably…example…. loved the quote in The Peninsula. From some lieutenant in the police service about it being very hard to catch people smoking in cars. Really how hard look in the windows then intercept. If this is their command /leadership there us no hope for road safety at all.
There is just no desire to enforce as it is too much like work.