The rate of road traffic fatalities in Qatar has fallen below global numbers, traffic department director Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji said yesterday.
“The fall in the fatalities is due to the active co-operation among the entities concerned and the increased traffic awareness among the Qatari community,” he said on the sidelines of a workshop.
The exercise on the ‘Role of Public and Private Sectors in the Implementation of the National Strategy for Traffic Safety’ was organised by the National Committee for Traffic Safety.
“During last year, there were 8.2 cases of road accident deaths for every100,000 inhabitants, which is less than the international rate of 10-15 deaths per each 100,000 inhabitants,” he explained while stressing Qatar is on the right track for a better road safety.
Ashghal participated in the workshop held under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, who is also the chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety.
Engineer Mohamed Ali Darwish, Ashghal’s director of Technical Support Affairs spoke on the authority’s commitment to its key role in supporting the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and enhance traffic safety on roads in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
It was in January 2013 that Ashghal  participated in the formulation and launching off the National Strategy for Traffic Safety along with a number of other entities. The strategy included around 200 action plans in addition to a number of initiatives to raise awareness about traffic safety in the Qatari society and minimise accidents and traffic violations.
These are being implemented by several entities concerned in co-ordination with the National Committee for Traffic Safety. Ashghal is implementing 34 initiatives and action plans.
Thirteen action plans have been completed so far, including the implementation of a wide range of procedures and techniques in the field of traffic safety, including those concerned with road users and in the work sites of Ashghal’s projects.
The authority is also implementing the School Zone Safety Programme to ensure the safety of students and parents while going in and out of schools and providing all safety elements for more than 200 schools all over Qatar.
In addition to this, Ashghal is implementing the International Road Assessment Programme which included a comprehensive field survey for over 1,500km of roads in order to analyse and assess them geometrically and suggest needed procedures to enhance traffic safety.
Ashghal is also building a shared database to analyse traffic accidents data, their causes, areas that see frequent accidents, in order to take appropriate procedures to prevent them, in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior.
The Public Works Authority participated in the accompanying exhibition through a pavilion where it showcased its latest roads infrastructure projects, and the means and technology used in the Intelligent Transportation Systems and traffic safety fields.