More than 91% of the 101 pedestrians who died in 93 road traffic accidents in Qatar during 2012-2013, were males, a senior official of the Traffic Department has said. The majority of the deceased were Nepalese, followed by Indians.

Captain Riyad Ahmed Saleh, head of Traffic Awareness Section at the Traffic Department, explained that pedestrian casualties constitute 23.8% of the overall number of deaths during 2012-2013, considered too high by global standards.

He was addressing a seminar on traffic safety awareness, for the representatives of various expatriate communities, under the topic “Pedestrian Safety is Everybody’s Responsibility’ to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

Captain Saleh said that there is a serious and pressing need for the Traffic Department to address this issue with the members of expatriate communities as the largest number of the victims are expatriate workers.

The age category of 11-30 years represent almost 30% of the pedestrians who died during the said period, with a considerable percentage in the age category of 20-40 years.

The majority of pedestrian accidents took place at the evening times when visibility decreases from 6pm-midnight, representing 60.4% of the total number of such accidents in 2012-2013. Almost 19% of such accidents occurred in the Doha Industrial Area.

“The roads there are not pedestrian friendly with inadequate crossing points. Also, when it gets dark and the street lighting is not enough, motorists are not able to see pedestrians crossing the road.  Some of the motorists often get perplexed when they suddenly see a pedestrian crossing the road and cannot produce the adequate response,” pointed out Captain Saleh.

Yet, he also stressed that motorists have a big role in avoiding such pedestrian casualties by being constantly alert while driving and giving priority to the pedestrians crossing a road.

He explained the reasons behind such casualties in expatriate pedestrians indicting that the traffic and road system in Qatar is usually different from those in their country of origin. “Their communities and companies should give them introductory briefing on how to walk and cross the roads in Qatar and we are ready to co-operate with all communities in their own languages to enhance traffic awareness and decrease the chances of any such mishap,” stressed Captain Saleh.

Accordingly, he called on the representatives of expatriate communities present at the seminar to form a team of volunteers from among themselves to work closely with the Traffic Department and deliver the message to their community members, in particular the category of labourers, who are more vulnerable to such accidents.