Ramadan road safety drive

Organised for the seventh consecutive year, the month-long campaign focuses on raising road safety awareness in a bid to significantly reduce the number of accidents and casualties on Qatar’s roads.

“Promoting road safety awareness is a key element of Qatargas’ Corporate Social Responsibility Programme,” said Ghanim al-Kuwari, chief operating officer – Administration.

“As a socially responsible company, we see this as an excellent opportunity to support the efforts of the Traffic Department in spreading awareness on road safety especially among our younger generation,” he explained. 

Al-Kuwari pointed out that road safety is a major concern in the society as road traffic accidents claim many lives each year and cause severe physical disabilities to a large number of people, especially among the younger generation.

“We have selected ‘Don’t Kill their Dreams’ as the slogan for this year’s campaign to highlight the importance of protecting our children from traffic accidents.  Children, who are the future of our country, are often the innocent victims of the unsafe behaviour of adults.  It is our joint responsibility to protect their lives so they can achieve their dreams and aspirations.”

Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji, director of Traffic Department, asserted that spreading awareness is a key aspect of improving road safety and people’s driving behaviour. 

“The poor decisions that people make while driving, such as not wearing seat belts, using mobile phones, speeding, and not buckling in children properly can mean the difference between life and death. It takes only a second for a serious accident to happen. 

“By making the right choices with regard to road safety, we can save our lives and the lives of our loved ones and others around us.  Road safety is our joint responsibility and this is the message we are trying to spread through this campaign.”

As part of the campaign, Qatargas will launch a special road safety TV commercial titled “Don’t Kill their Dreams” to be aired on Rayyan TV throughout the month of Ramadan and in cinemas during the Eid holidays. 

The TV commercial focuses on the aspect of children becoming victims of the unsafe driving habits of adults and how their dreams are killed when they are involved in serious traffic accidents.

Iftar packs will be distributed to motorists on a daily basis on key roads and traffic intersections in Doha and surrounding areas.  In addition to dates and water, the packs will also contain a booklet, car sticker, and other informative material – all about safe driving.

Experts in the field of road traffic will be hosted in the Ramadan tents to discuss behavioural aspects of road safety and spread awareness.  The mass Iftars conducted by local charity organisations will also be used as a platform to spread road safety awareness, particularly related to pedestrian safety.  This activity will target the expatriate workers.

Qatargas has also entered into an agreement with the Traffic Department to sponsor the road safety messages featuring the Traffic Department’s road safety mascot ‘Nasih’ (adviser) for a period of two years beginning from the end of this year. These messages will be placed at all key intersections and traffic lights in the country.

Earlier this year, Qatargas launched the ‘10 Life Saving Rules’ related to safety that are mandatory for every person, whether employee or contractor working at Qatargas. Two of those rules specifically address safe driving. 

All Qatargas employees and contractors who are required to drive a vehicle at the company’s work locations at Ras Laffan have to undergo a mandatory ‘Defensive Driving’ course.

Qatargas has very stringent safe driving rules in place at all its premises including offices and residential compounds. These rules pertain to adhering to speed limits, use of seat belts, banning use of mobile phones while driving as well as mandatory reverse parking.