Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia has seen a dramatic decrease in traffic accidents and related injuries and deaths. Deaths in traffic accidents among Saudisin the 18-30 age group dramatically decreased to the lowest rate in five years in 2019, at 30 per cent of the total road fatalities, local media reported.
According to areport issued by the General Statistics Authority on International Youth Day 2020, 26.7 per cent of total road fatalities were among men aged 18-30, while female deaths in the same age category made up 3.6 per cent of the total.
Road deaths in Saudi Arabia are estimated to be more than five times higher than in the UAE.
Authorities blame the statistics on reckless driving, overladen vehicles and the risk of hitting animals — particularly camels — on highways.
The World Health Organisation documented a decrease in the number of road deaths in the Kingdom by 35 per cent, and a decrease in the death rate per 100,000 people by 40 per cent during the period from 2016-2018.
Data from Friends of the Red Crescent Committee citied Saudi Arabia recording 526,000 accidents annually with up to 17 deaths daily, according to the committee’s head Ahmad Al Shaikha.
“A total of 21 billion riyals is spent annually on road accidents. Saudi Arabia is ranked 23rd on the list of countries witnessing the highest death rates in road accidents in the world. It is second among Arab countries in terms of road deaths,” said Al Shaikha.
The Ministry of Transport has said it will work along with other authorities on an initiative to reduce road deaths by 25 per cent by 2020, as part of the goals of the Kingdom’s 2030 vision.
Having one of world’s highest ratios of traffic deaths per 100,000 people in the world, the kingdom aims to reach a rate of eight road deaths per 100,000 citizens from 26 per 100,000 in 2015.
The current figure is well above the average rate of 9.2 per 100,000 recorded in high-income countries, the 17.4 world average and even the 24.1 per 100,000 average in low-income countries recorded by the World Health Organisation.
