Concern about reckless driving and irresponsible motorist behaviour has come to the fore once again, after at least nine people died in three road accidents in the country during the Eid Al Adha holidays.
Though isolated incidents, they have evoked concern about dangerous driving, triggering fear among some that they could become victims of the adventurism of a reckless driver.
Citizens and expatriates have called on authorities to enforce stricter laws against erring drivers and pedestrians. Others suggest that creating more awareness will prevent road accidents. Another key suggestion is for heavy vehicles to follow lane discipline and being allowed to ply during the stipulated time. One of the fatal accidents during Eid involved a trailer.
“Everyone is responsible for traffic violations. Drivers as well as pedestrians must act more responsibly,” said Ahmed Lafeer, a long-time Doha resident.
“Recently, I saw two children who would be around five, trying to cross the road in front of the Qatar Volleyball Association in the New Salata area. They were almost hit by a speeding car. The driver and the parents have to be blamed,” added Lafeer.
Another Arab expatriate, born and raised in Qatar, said: “Many drive recklessly at the cost of the other’s fear. They assume that other drivers will give way to a carelessly driven car, but they don’t realise they risk lives until an accident occurs.”
“Road accidents take place everywhere, but if we are careful every accident can be prevented,” she added.
According to statistics provided by the Hamad Medical Corporation, every year more than 4,000 vehicle crashes occur in Qatar. This causes over 600 major injuries resulting in around 200 deaths. Road traffic injuries have been identified as one of the leading causes of death in the country. One out of eight deaths (12.5 percent) is caused by road accidents.
Research and statistics suggest that the use of mobile phone while driving and exceeding speed limits are the major traffic violations in the country. Speeding has been identified as a major cause of accidents.
However, the ‘Safety and Security Strategy’, which is part of the National Development Strategy 2011-2016, has said the Ministry of Interior should bring down the number of traffic accidents from 300 to 250 and the number of fatalities from 14 to 10 per 100,000 persons annually.
In the most recent incident, five Filipinos including an infant were killed and one person was injured in an accident close to Hamad International Airport (HIA). The small car in which the victims were travelling was hit by a Land Cruiser from the rear. The force of the collision was so strong that the car went up in flames.
In another incident, three persons — a Qatari, a Bahraini and an Iranian — died on Corniche Road in a crash involving four cars.
In one more incident, a man driving a saloon car died on the spot when he crashed into a trailer on the Airport-Al Wakra Road.
“I saw the charred remains of the car on the way to Hamad International Airport around 2.15pm on Monday. Never knew there was such a tragic loss behind the scene,” said a Facebook comment.
Another commentator said: “It’s sad that in seconds, reckless driving takes the lives of many innocent people. It just happened that they were at the place, at the time and when it’s your time, then it’s your time. You were destined to die in a car accident, so no matter what precautions you take, it will happen.”
Some suggested that more awareness programmes would help reduce the number of road accidents and traffic violations.
“Start a campaign against these kinds of (reckless) drivers and subject them to strong legal action. Let’s start now to stop accidents in the future,” said a commentator.
Another said: “The fine for traffic violations is very high in Qatar, but people are still not obeying rules, so only education and a change in mindset will help reduce accidents.”
However, others disagree with the suggestion and say that reckless driving could be curbed only through responsible behaviour of motorists.
“Drivers who consider themselves above the law; who drive recklessly, flashing their headlights to get ahead of everyone and show off; who put one foot on the window and use mobile phones while driving expensive cars to show that they are cool; who use the hard shoulders to get ahead in the queue should learn lessons to avoid doing it.”
Some others suggest more inclusive surveillance of vehicles.
“I think every car should have a dash camera. Driving in Qatar has not improved,” a commentator suggested.
Some were especially concerned about heavy vehicles and trucks, since one of the accidents that took place during the Eid holidays involved a trailer.
“It’s not just the SUVs. Some trailer and truck drivers also drive very carelessly, they act as if only their vehicle is on the road,’’ said a comment on social media.
Several others on a Qatar-based social networking site suggested stricter laws and deployment of more traffic policemen on the roads.
“A strict new law has to be enforced so that drivers and pedestrians fear violating rules,” said a Qatari commentator.
Another said: “There should be traffic police deployed at all places, most drivers drive safely once they see a policeman.”
Also, several others said that overtaking vehicles from the right is a very common violation.
According to 2013 figures, the number of accidents dropped by 9.5 percent in 2012 as compared to 2011.
And the number of pedestrians who died in mishaps dropped to 56 during the year from 61 in 2011 and a high of 74 in 2010.
However, data from different research studies indicate varying findings about traffic violations.
A recent study by the Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at Hamad Medical Corporation on driving in Qatar found that those using mobile phones while driving had a higher number of fines for disobeying traffic lights (45.3 per cent) and for exceeding the speed limit (48.2 per cent).
Another study by Qatar University indicated that Qatar has the world’s highest fatality rate from traffic accidents considering its population.
The study, funded by the Qatar National Research Fund and conducted in collaboration with the Traffic Department and the Qatar Statistics Authority, predicted the number of traffic accidents in the country will near 220,000 annually by 2015.
However, the latest data by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics show that 19 people died in road accidents in August 2014, and the number of major and minor accidents stood at 43 and 536 respectively. There were 140,000 traffic violations in August.
Road accidents claimed 15 lives in July, a marginal drop from 16 in June. The Madinat Khalifa area recorded four deaths — the maximum in road accidents.
There were 66 major road mishaps during the month while minor accidents totalled 565. The number of traffic violations reported in the month stood at 124,230, a decrease of 30.4 percent over June.
A total of 8,437 new vehicles were registered in July.
However, 165,572 traffic violations were recorded in June, with 96,575 of these for speeding.
To curb traffic violations, the Ministry of Interior’s Traffic Department has taken several steps in the recent past. Around 120 radars were installed across the country and more policemen were deployed to identify traffic violators.
Speed-detecting radars were installed every 2 to 4 kilometres on busy roads. The cameras identify drivers who exceed speed limits and those who overtake from the right.
According to the Traffic Department, around 100 vehicles had been caught overtaking in the wrong way.
The Peninsula
