Saudi Arabia warns motorists over 15% rise in road accidents during holidays
Announcement comes as nine-day school holiday is underway in the kingdom
Cairo: Saudi Arabia has warned that traffic accidents increase by around 15 per cent during holidays compared to the rest of the year.
The warning was sounded as a nine-day school holiday is underway in the kingdom.
The General Authority for Roads has issued a safety advisory for motorists including the importance of fastening the seat belts for the driver and other riders, observing the speed limit and avoiding the use of the mobile phone at the wheel.
The agency has stressed the necessity of checking the car tyres and other parts to ensure safety.
Motorists are also urged to sleep enough before hitting the road and advised against driving in the rain. Placing children in their designated seats during the journey is important too.
In August last year, the Saudi Cabinet approved the establishment of the General Authority for Roads to regulate the road sector in the kingdom by setting related safety rules and fulfilling a strategy aimed to reduce traffic fatalities to less than five deaths per 100,000 people by the year 2030.
Saudi authorities have toughened penalties against traffic offences to reduce road crashes.
Traffic deaths in the kingdom have dropped by around 35 per cent in five years from 2016.
In recent months, Saudi media reported several deadly accidents.
Earlier this month, a collision involving three cars left eight people dead and five others wounded in south-western Saudi Arabia.
Last month, an expatriate was killed and four Saudis injured in a collision between cars in Saudi Arabia’s south-western city of Al Baha.
Earlier in October, a schoolteacher was killed and five others injured in a road crash while they were on their way to their school in the city of Yanbu in western Saudi Arabia.
In September, a bus flipped over, leaving four people dead and seven others wounded in the coastal governorate of Al Wajh in north-western Saudi Arabia.
In May, a bus, carrying university students, collided with a car in the central city of Buraidah, leaving one student dead and 24 others injured.
In March, 21 Umrah pilgrims were killed and 29 others injured when their bus turned over in the south-western Asir region.