Doha
The new season of Darb Al Salama, a leading road safety initiative, concluded last month at Al Shamal Sports Club and Al Thukhirah Youth Centre.
The initiative, launched by the Ras Laffan Community Outreach Programme (COP), attracted more than 828 students from 17 schools from Al Thukhirah and the northern communities.
This helped build on its success in previous years and reflected its positive impact on Qatar, a statement noted.
The initiative targets residents of the northern communities, particularly motorists aged between 14 and 21 years, in a bid to reduce road fatalities and injuries as a result of car accidents. It uses a mix of practical and computer-based education tools to help change driving behaviours, with the long-term vision of reducing fatalities and serious injuries resulting from road accidents.
Till date, the initiative has attracted participation from more than 12,000 youth centres and schools across the northern communities and Doha.
The Safe Journey initiative was among the frontrunners for the Innovation Road Safety Award at the fourth Annual Middle East ITS and Road Safety Forum held in Doha in October.
The initiative was nominated for outstanding innovation in road safety, outperforming several other programmes due to its interactive and entertaining approach, according to the statement.
The technology supporting the initiative is based on the Rakez Taslam programme, which stands for “focus to be safe” in English. Adopted for the first time in the Middle East this year, Rakez Taslam was designed and tailored to Qatar’s roads and driving environment in order to help young drivers identify and respond to potentially unsafe traffic situations.
The Safe Journey initiative was launched by the COP and is organised in partnership with the Ministry of Interior, Traffic Department, Qatar Red Crescent and Community Policing Department.
The COP is a consortium that includes Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Shell, RasGas, Dolphin Energy Limited, Oryx GTL and Pearl GTL.
Students attending the road safety initiative
