DOHA: Some 300 new vehicles of different types are being registered with the Traffic Department on average a day despite increasing chaos on Qatar’s roads.
And about 285 driving licences are being issued by the department on average every day, daily averages based on official figures suggest.
Data show that 36,458 vehicles were registered with the department in four months this year — June (9,125), July (8,437), September (10,285) and October (8,611).
Based on the figures, the monthly average of registered vehicles works out to 9,114.5, and the daily average is a little more than 300.
Data issued by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics for October show that the number of registered vehicles in the month was 8,611, of which personal cars were in a majority (5,633).
Vehicles meant for private transport (buses and mini-buses, among others) totalled 2,062, followed by heavy equipment vehicles (383).
Some 136 taxis and 183 trailers were among the automobiles registered.
Similarly, figures show that more than 8,500 driving licences are being issued on average a month, with the daily average working out to 285.
For instance, in April, some 9,562 licences were issued, in June the number dropped to 8,517 and in July, it further went down to 6,202.
In October, the number of licences issued fell marginally to 8,004 from 10,468 in September.
The total for the five months stands at 42,753, and based on the figure, the monthly average works out to 8,550, and the daily average 285.
Qataris account for a smaller percentage of those issued driving licences due to their smaller population.
In September, their total, for example, was 812, out of 10,468 or less then 10 percent.
In October, the total fell to almost half to 487 out of 8,004 or six percent.
The ministry didn’t cite reasons for the fall or the overall decline in the number of vehicles registered in October or the number of driving licences issued in the month compared to September.
The figures also show that some 24 people died in 17 road accidents in October.
A total of 444 mishaps took place in the month.
Out of 24 deaths, nine died in the Old Airport Area, and six in the north of the country.
But most road accidents (93 out of 444) took place in Madinat Khalifa, according to the ministry’s data.
The Peninsula
