Focus on traffic safety as students return to schools

Experts and officials from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Hamad Medical Corp (HMC)'s Trauma Center and General Directorate of Traffic have called on all road users to essentially maintain focus on roads while driving and adhere to traffic safety. The call came to mark the beginning of the academic year during which roads witness surging number of vehicle, buses and pedestrians.Director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention Department at MoPH Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani emphasized the importance of making traffic safety one of the daily top priorities, especially during the academic season.Alongside the focus to protect the community, primarily children, it is highly significant for all community members to be part of factors that provide a safer start to the new academic year through stringent adherence to safety measures while driving, said Dr Hamad al-Thani.For his part, Traffic Media Officer at the General Directorate of Traffic Lt Abdulmohsin al-Asmar al-Ruwaili stated that the General Directorate of Traffic has prepared a plan to maintain surveillance on traffic during the academic year as part of its commitment to bolstering traffic safety statewide.Al-Ruwaili highlighted that the plan aims to facilitate the smooth traffic and prevent gridlock on main roads, school perimeter and roads that lead to those areas through intensifying traffic patrols and deployment of traffic personnel, particularly in road intersections and around the schools where there is traffic congestion.He said these measures will help ensure safety for students and all road users, urging them to comply with the traffic laws and instructions. For her part, Assistant Director of HMC's Injury Prevention Program, Dr Aisha Obeid, stressed that preventing road traffic accident-related trauma must be primarily a foremost priority for parents, school managers and all vehicle drivers in Qatar.She underscored the importance of making sure that kids remain in the back seat for as long as possible, with parents and bus drivers being essentially cautious while driving to be a role model for others through adherence to buckle up seatbelt and drive within the allowed speed limits, in addition to never using mobile phones while driving and complying with traffic rules to ensure students' safety.