How to combat the many deadly roadside accidents in the ME?

[al-Hasani]

I thought about making this thread just seconds ago when I read the news in a Saudi Arabian newspaper called Okaz that reported deaths due to roadside accidents in recent days. A normal occurrence nearly daily.

That got me thinking and I took a quick look at the statistics. Not to my surprise I figured out that the ME region has among the highest rates in the world when it comes to traffic related deaths. This is clearly visible when one takes a look at the fatalities per 100.000 inhabitants per year.

List of countries by traffic-related death rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eritrea tops the list with 48.4 road facilities per 100.000 inhabitants per year.

The Dominican Republic is second, Libya third, Thailand fourth, Venezuela fifth, Iran sixth, Nigeria seventh, South Africa eight, Iraq ninth and Guinea Bissau is tenth.

So in the top 10 we have 3 countries from the ME.

If we go down the list a little we find Oman as number 11, Mauritania number 15, Sudan number 19, Saudi Arabia number 22, Yemen number 27, Jordan number 31, Syria number 32, Lebanon number 38, Comoros number 42, Tunisia number 68, Morocco number 75, Kuwait number 84, Qatar number 104, Egypt number 110, UAE number 116, Bahrain number 131, Israel number 176 and Palestine number 177.

There are some of those countries and their location on that list that I do not understand.

Yes, countries like KSA, Oman, Yemen, Iran etc. have many mountainous areas which by virtue of their location are more dangerous than big roads in more flat areas but this is not the full explanation. I know that KSA at least have roads above the world standard and that of ME, often very wide too but despite this KSA ranks very high on the list.

Is it bound in recklessness? Bad infrastructure or what is it? People by now should be aware of the dangers. What are the solutions to this problem and how do we explain that a country like Egypt is first found as number 110 but more wealthy countries are located way higher on the list?
Egypt unlike many of the other Arab countries is totally flat outside of Sinai…. and the roads don't strike me as better than those in the rest of the Arab world, in particular the GCC, rather the opposite in fact.

There have been many campaigns, at least in KSA, that have promoted safe driving but it seems that this makes little difference.

Discuss.

 

[faisal6309]

We here don't use zebra crossing for crossing the road. Still there are less road accidents in Pakistan lol

 

[al-Hasani]

Anyway since this is about road accidents, the ME and KSA is already mentioned then I guess that I might as well post this before somebody else posts similar clips, LOL.

@faisal6309 I believe that those numbers of fatalities are wrong. They are much higher.

This drifting nonsense that is prevalent in and around Riyadh must also stop or at least racing tracks must be built and certain rules applied. Too many people die due to this idiotic behavior.

 

[xenon54 out]

@al-Hasani i did some research about this, wth are they doing there?

There are tons of videos like that, is this something like a national sports down there?

 

[al-Hasani]

Idiots filled with hormones doing what idiots do best in such a state.

If KSA just focused on actual racing tracks then we might have had a few successful drivers instead they are either getting killed, injured or worse taking innocents with them or injuring them….

At least we have a international rally in Ha'il….

Hail Rally | Home Page

http://samf.gov.sa/Hail2013/Haill2013-b.htm

 

[Shapur Zol Aktaf]

I believe Technology will end almost all the road accidents. Cars will communicate with each other in the near future.

Already adoptive cruise control is available for all cars.

Another volvo technology.

 

[al-Hasani]

@Shapur Zol Aktaf

Not a realistic option in the near future. It will at least take a few decades for that or similar systems to get implemented. Let alone be dominant in places such as ME.

Iran is number 6 on that list. What are you doing to reduce the number of fatalities? What is the biggest cause for that in Iran? Bad infrastructure, old cars (I suspect that this is one of the main causes) or just reckless driving? Probably a combination like anywhere else.

 

[ResurgentIran]

@Shapur Zol Aktaf

Not a realistic option in the near future. It will at least take a few decades for that or similar systems to get implemented. Let alone be dominant in places such as ME.

Iran is number 6 on that list. What are you doing to reduce the number of fatalities? What is the biggest cause for that in Iran? Bad infrastructure, old cars (I suspect that this is one of the main causes) or just reckless driving? Probably a combination like anywhere else.

Lack of traffic laws, and its not like Iranians follow them anyway.
People drive like its the law of the jungle. Sometimes driving even in opposite direction
Traffic gets clogged up. Thats why motorcycle taxis are a big hit in Iran. lol

 

[al-Hasani]

Lack of traffic laws, and its not like Iranians follow them anyway.
People drive like its the law of the jungle. Sometimes driving even in opposite direction
Traffic gets clogged up. Thats why motorcycle taxis are a big hit in Iran. lol

Seems a little bit like KSA then.

Do you also have those few hundreds of morons that are doing drifting on public roads?

The mountainous regions/provinces in KSA and the roads there are well…..not always the best to put it mildly although there have been big improvements in recent years.

Yemen on the other hand, which is nearly covered in mountains entirely, well is the law of all jungle laws!

Imagine some idiots drifting on roads like these below. Can you believe it?

 

[BDforever]

off topic: @al-Hasani @Neptune @proka89 @BLACKEAGLE @Yzd Khalifa our air force is not strong but tvc is cool.
check this out latest tvc of bangladesh air force LOL

 

[airmarshal]

Its very reckless driving. Saudi Arabia has big smooth roads and people drive there like crazy. In three days I had been in Mecca, I had seen 5 accidents on the highway.

The first one I saw when I was exiting the Jeddah airport and a man was leaning on the highway divider with his clothes drenched in blood. It was an awful sight. I could not fully figure out what happened as my taxi driver was not driving, he was flying.

With modern amenities, needs modern training too. In Canada, the driving license needs 3 tests. After three tests you are allowed to drive on a highway. There are very bad drivers here too but you wont see accidents here frequently.

 

[haman10]

Iran is number 6 on that list. What are you doing to reduce the number of fatalities? What is the biggest cause for that in Iran? Bad infrastructure, old cars (I suspect that this is one of the main causes) or just reckless driving? Probably a combination like anywhere else.

like every where else a combination of all ...... in iran u simply cannot build a wide road cause of the mountainous terrain .

iran produces 1000000 cars each year !! imagine this number of cars pouring into the roads each year !

but i think the main reason behind it is reckless driving , which the govt is trying hard to put an stop to it .......

i assume mid-eastern countries should work hard to settle the issue .....

what about saudi arabia ?

 

[al-Hasani]

@airmarshal
Yes, the driving is often terrible. Fatal car accidents happen daily. Hijaz due to being largely mountainous is especially hardly hit. Riyadh too obviously due to the big population in and around the city.

You told about that taxi driver that could not speak a word of English and who drove crazy.

@haman10

Well, the roads in KSA, outside some mountain roads/isolated roads are in general good and wide and most people also use modern cars but not all. I would say that it is mostly reckless driving. Lack of respect for your own safety and that of others.

Don't know where it comes from. For example I can give you Southern Europe as an example and the culture of driving there and they are also way more reckless than people in Northern Europe. I mean everyone that has been to Spain, Italy, Greece or other Southern European countries would tell you that they cannot drive/have little respect compared to countries like UK, Germany or regions like Scandinavia.

I must say though that some of the countries and their position on that list have surprised me especially Egypt which is that low on the list.

Many of the youth in KSA also like to do reckless things such as drifting and this is killing many people each year.

Or simply idiots trying to drift down mountanious roads like the one below in cars.

I would like bigger German cooperation. Maybe they could teach us German discipline, LOL.

 

[Sinnerman108]

@al-Hasani .. I have a 5L, v8 , S500.

The speed limit is 120 kmph.

What to do ?

 

[rmi5]

Or simply idiots trying to drift down mountanious roads like the one below in cars.

It is a very nice road and mountain dude. I am so tempted to do the same thing as this guy is doing now.