Manama: Kuwait’s roads witness 10 accidents every hour even though a staggering 40 million fines were issued in the last 11 years, a report said, drawing a grim picture of the traffic situation in the country.
Figures indicate that 4,581 people died and 22,000 were injured in traffic accidents in the country in the period between 2002 and 2012, the report, prepared by the Kuwaiti traffic safety society said.
Kuwaitis represent about 40 per cent of the casualties, it added.
The highest rate was recorded last year with more than 86,000 accidents in which 454 people were killed and around 10,000 were injured, the report said, local Arabic daily Al Qabas reported on Monday.
The constant traffic problems cost the state around 2 per cent of its budget, almost the equivalent of what is being spent on the health or education sector. The existence of 1.7 million vehicles in the small country, among which many do not meet the required road standards and should not be circulating, has compounded the situation, it said.
Speeding and the failure to wear seatbelts have been the major causes of the accidents in which a high number of young people were involved.
According to the report, the traffic authorities issued 39,682,052 fines in the 11 years covered by the study, generating KD333,574,923 (Dh4.3 million) in revenues for the state. Exceeding speed limits was again the major cause of the heavy toll.
The report said that there was an urgent need for the country to promote a better traffic culture in which the rules and regulations are invariably respected.
The relaxed approach to applying the law was among the major factors that compounded the crisis on the roads, the report said, citing specifically the existence of “wasta”, an Arabic language word for “whom you know” and referring to a person’s clout or nepotism in any business dealing.
In August, Major General Abdul Fattah Al Ali, the interior ministry assistant undersecretary for traffic affairs tasked with addressing traffic problems plaguing the country, pledged to “change the traffic map within six months and wipe out the word wasta from the traffic dictionary”.
Recommendations in the report called for a long-term and realistic national strategy, improving the roads and the traffic infrastructure and encouraging people to pool or to use public transportation so that less cars would be circulating.
Motorists must have a better sense of traffic rules and regulations and the traditional method of acquiring the driving licence should be reviewed, the report said.
It also called for the enactment of new traffic laws and, in the meantime, strictly applying the existing laws.