Fatal road accidents down in Bahrain by half

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com       

Reported by Zahra Ayaz

In the early hours of April 4, a horrible collision involving a motorcycle and a car claimed the life of a 26-year-old lady. The news was revealed by the Ministry of Interior via its official Twitter account.

The Civil Defense and Interior Ministry teams rushed to the accident site and took control of the situation. A probe has also been launched into the accident. Traffic accidents are a worldwide problem that causes the deaths of nearly one million people per year and results in permanent disabilities for at least another 10 million.

As per a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), traffic accidents are currently the seventh leading cause of mortality and might rise to the third by the year 2025.

According to a case study by Mustapha Ben-Hamouche, Abdulrahman Al Janahi, and Hashim Al Madani, associate professors in the College of Engineering at the University of Bahrain, the rising motorization in Bahrain, as in all the Gulf states, combined with the dearth of dependable public transportation may be the cause of the rise in traffic accidents.

“Despite the high standards of the road networks that have been built per high international norms, as they have mostly been developed during the last 30 years, accident rates in the Gulf countries show alarming figures when compared to many developed countries,” the study states.

“One aspect of this standard is the high car ownership rates and the total dependence on private transportation means." There are 342 cars per 1,000 people in the Kingdom. As of August 2019, Bahrain had over 711,000 vehicles registered.

“Direct consequences of these are the continuous increase in sub-urbanization, the continuous expansion of road networks, and a substantial increase in traffic.”

According to the General Directorate of Traffic, Bahrain has reduced the number of fatal accidents by 50 per cent by implementing adequate measures.

“The accident rate is the lowest in the Gulf region and the Middle East." This is because of the increasing steps to monitor wrong traffic practices, apart from boosting awareness activities.”

According to a study conducted two years ago, despite a 36 percent increase in the number of vehicles in the last five years, accidents in general decreased by 21.55 percent and fatal accidents decreased by 30 percent, while the number of fatalities decreased by 38 percent and injuries-related accidents among drivers and passengers decreased by 41 percent and 52 percent, respectively.