Traffic deaths rise slightly

A total of 19.2% of all deaths in Qatar in 2010 was due to traffic accidents, with 226 people losing their lives on the roads, up from 224 in 2009, senior Traffic Department officials said yesterday.

Al Mamoura, lying on the fringes of Abu Hamour, Mesaimeer and Salwa Road, emerged as the deadliest zone in Qatar with a total of 52 deaths.

Al Khor followed with 25 deaths, Madinat Khalifa, Al Rayyan and Umm Salal recorded 21 and Mesaieed, including the Sealine area, 18. Close to third of all the victims (66.4%) were aged between 18-39, Ministry of Interior official Lt Col Ibrahim al-Sulaiti said while giving a breakdown of accidents and fatalities in 2010.

Of the total deaths, 47 were Qataris (20.4%), 36 Arabs (15.9%), six GCC citizens (2.7%) and 136 non-Arab expatriates (61.1%). At least 72% of Qataris who died on the road (34 of the total 47) were behind the wheels and not passengers.

Among the expatriates, the highest number of deaths was recorded in the Nepalese community (51), followed by Indians (31). Of all the people who died in 2010 on roads in Qatar, 96.5% were male. At least seven motorcyclists and bikers were among the victims.

Among the 226 fatalities, 63 were passengers, 90 drivers and 73 pedestrians. Pedestrians accounted for 32.3% of total deaths. The global average is 17%. The high pedestrian toll could be attributed to an increase in the number of vehicles in Qatar which stood at 754,439 when 2010 ended, up 9.7% from 688,029 in 2009.

But the addition of new vehicles on the roads did not see a corresponding increase in the number of drivers which went up by 2% to 690,678 in 2010 from 677,425 in 2009. Nevertheless, more vehicles meant more violations: Close to a million (987,621) were recorded in 2010, a massive increase of 32.7% from 744, 266 a year before.

Motorists speeding past radars and jumping the red lights were the main contributors to the 1mn-mark; they made up 40.2% of all traffic law violations in 2010.

The last decade was the worst for Qatari roads, peaking in 2006 when 270 people died; 28% of all deaths in the country in that year. The population then was only half of what it is today.

A stricter law, first introduced in October of 2007, and subsequent additions have successfully brought down the death figures.

Tallying the overall figures and comparing data to previous years yesterday showed an overall traffic improvement of 10.8%.

Al-Sulaiti was accompanied by senior Traffic Department officials, including director Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji, adviser Brig Mohamed Abdullah al-Malki and Interior Ministry Public Relations director Lt Col Abdullah Khalifa al-Muftah.