Summer vacation is over in Qatar and as feared, traffic has again become a headache that every resident, especially those living in Doha and its suburbs, experience on a daily basis. Given the increasing number of vehicles added to the roads every day and the ongoing road works in different areas, no substantial relief is sadly in sight.
Abiding by the advice given by the Traffic Department authorities, a large number of residents have begun to start their trips early, in order to escape the bumper-to-bumper traffic, with varying degrees of success. While hitting the roads early works for those commuting in certain areas, it unfortunately does not work for others who have no option but to rely on some of the busiest roads in the country.
The Ministry of Interior is doing a good job by posting traffic policemen at all major intersections and roundabouts during the rush hours, but they too have a limit when faced with unending flow of traffic from all directions. The number of minor accidents, particularly rear end collisions, has also begun to increase directly in proportion to the growing number of vehicles on the roads.
Even a minor disruption in traffic due to a non-fatal accident creates a jam that has a cascading effect, leading to long queue of vehicles caught standstill or moving at snail’s pace, causing a massive loss of productivity that impacts the economy in addition to wasting fuel. Fatal accidents hurt not only those involved but the country too, as revealed by the results of a study.
If motorists follow some basic rules they could help a lot in easing traffic flow. Using a handheld mobile phone while driving, which is prohibited by law but seen as a widespread phenomenon on Qatar’s roads, has been found to be one of the main reasons for accidents. Some motorists even type in text messages on their phone while driving, putting their lives and that of others at great risk.
Research has proved that even talking on a handsfree phone while driving makes motorists prone to accidents as they may be unable to focus on the road. Less said the better about using a handheld phone while driving.
More than 1mn accidents, which were recorded in Qatar between 2007 and 2012 (including both years), have cost the country a whopping QR17.6bn, according to a study carried out by the Qatar Road Safety Studies Centre at Qatar University. There were a total of 1,289 fatal accidents during the period.
The study, carried out by female students of the university’s College of Engineering, found that the cost of accidents in 2007 alone was around QR2.5bn and the cost of accidents in 2012 reached around QR3.2bn.
These numbers and amounts indicate that Qatar spends approximately 2.7% from its Gross Domestic Product on traffic accidents annually. The study was based on “The Human Capital” model which calculates the cost of traffic accidents and their resulting losses within a certain period.
There is no substitute for better road discipline. Motorists should be responsible and if they are not, the authorities concerned have to ensure that the rules are followed.
