Qatar has witnessed a remarkable fall in the number of road traffic fatalities over the last two years, the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) announced.

"While there were 235 traffic fatalities in 2013, the number fell to 178 in 2016 and further to 162 between January and November 2017," NTSC secretary general Brigadier Mohamed al-Malki told a press conference.

"This is a great achievement considering that the committee had set targets of 213 for 2016 and 199 for 2017," he explained. The target for 2022 is 130.

Another noted achievement was the reduction of the road fatalities rate from 14 deaths per 100,000 in 2013 to 6.93 per 100,000 in 2016, he said.

The complete figures for 2017 would be known only at the end of this month, said Brigadier al-Malki while replying to a question.

The NTSC official revealed the figures while informing some of the achievements of the five-years of the first Qatar Action Plan. A 7-member project team, headed by Brigadier Mohamed al-Malki has been constituted to realise the goals of the plan.

The action plan for the second phase of National Traffic Safety Strategy (2018-2022) will be formally unveiled today by HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. He will also inaugurate the fifth forum of the authorities concerned for the implementation of the strategy in the presence of ministers and traffic officials from Kuwait, Oman and a number of experts from public and private sectors.

Brigadier al-Malki also informed that it is also significant that notwithstanding the rapid population growth and high vehicle ownership rates, the number of serious injuries resulting from traffic collisions has been maintained at the 2013 rate of 33 per 100,000 residents.

While 62% of the Action Plan has already been completed, the National Traffic Safety Office (NTSO) has transferred the remaining 38% to be achieved in the second five years between 2018 and 2022.

The NTSO has also identified that 92% of the road traffic fatalities are mainly within five Traffic Police Geographical areas. "Hence we are promoting the development of an intelligence-led policing plan focusing attention on those sites and most problematic behaviours," he said.

It has also been disclosed that there has been a reduction of the emergency call response time to five seconds and ambulance arrival to the crash site to 7-8 minutes.

While announcing the NTSC plans, the official said they have been providing continuous and regular support to the success of the FIFA 2022 World Cup, besides concentrating on capacity building and establishment of a new inter-agency culture of strategic planning and implementation. The committee has also appointed 30 inter-agency co-ordinators for the success of Qatar Action Plan.

Under the chairmanship of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, the NTSC was established in 2012 as a lead to develop the 1st National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) and $154mn worth five-year action plan.

It has the participation of 13 multi-sectoral agencies and 198 actions co-ordinated by the safe system approach. The NTSO was established in 2015 to promote Qatar as a world leader in road safety and provide advice for senior management and stakeholders, promote the National Strategy, assist in the implementation of the associated Action Plan and provide and enhanced Monitoring and Evaluation capacity.

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