Doha

The Traffic Department has finalised a unified driving curriculum and it will be introduced in all driving schools soon as part of Qatar's efforts to make the country's roads safer.

Prepared by experts in the road traffic field, the revised curriculum addresses the shortcomings in the existing one, besides covering all relevant practical and theoretical aspects of driving, according to a report in local Arabic daily Al Sharq.

The Traffic Department has prepared a plan to delegate some of its officers to driving schools to explain the content and objectives of the new curriculum. Also, the department has asked all schools to provide interpreters to explain the points mentioned in the new curriculum and the traffic law to learners who come from different countries.

No trainee will be allowed to take a road test unless he passes the theory test based on information provided in the new curriculum. In addition to driving skills and traffic laws, the syllabus addresses issues such as how to check the safety of a vehicle, lights, engine, engine oil and the pressure of tyres.

"A better and revised syllabus is the need of the hour considering the way people drive on Qatar’s roads," a long-time Doha resident and a motorist who commutes to his office from his home regularly, said.

"Common violations include changing lanes suddenly, refusing to give the right of way at intersections, reversing incorrectly, speeding and other myriad forms of reckless driving," he added.

According to instructors at local driving schools, many of the expat drivers don’t know anything about the fundamentals of safe driving, mostly due to the differences across driving cultures in various countries.

Determined to make the country's roads safer, the authorities had recently made it "difficult" to secure a driving licence. An instructor at a school said expats rarely pass the first time they take the theory portion of the test.

"Out of an average 35 persons who take the test on any given day, only three to four will get the licence. That is a very low passing rate and many learners are really struggling,” a source recently told Gulf Times.

With the short course abolished some five months ago, new learners have to take either the half or full course.

The test includes a theory part, parallel and pocket parking and the road test. Each of the tests is taken on different dates. In several cases, learners who failed the driving test have to wait for more than two months before getting a schedule for their second try.

The provision of granting a driving licence to those holding licences issued by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has also been discontinued in Qatar. "These experienced drivers are now required to enroll in driving schools and take the tests, but the problem is it takes months before they could get a licence,” a source said.

The new regulation has also affected expatriates who shifted to Qatar recently from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and were hoping to get a licence based on the ones they had in these two countries.

Though injuries from accidents are on the rise, 2014 government figures showed that the number of deaths in road traffic accidents in Qatar has come down compared to the previous year.

There were approximately 9.93 road deaths per 100,000 residents in 2014, compared to 12.2 per 100,000 residents the previous year.

In 2013, the government launched a 10-year National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS), which aims to save at least 800 lives and prevent 2,000 serious injuries over the next decade.

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