Saudi Arabia records 23 road deaths per day

At least 23 people die and 102 others are injured every day as a result of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia, it has been reported.

Local media, citing the directorate general of traffic’s 2015 annual report, said there was an average of 1,460 traffic accidents resulting in death or serious injury per day in the kingdom in 2015.

A total of 518,795 traffic accidents were recorded last year, including 8,063 deaths and 36,302 injured. Riyadh saw the largest number of accidents followed by Makkah then Dammam.

Campaigners in Saudi Arabia said the figures were alarming, according to



Saudi Gazette. It quoted Abdul Hameed Al Moajil, chairman of the Society for Traffic Safety, as saying the statistics were indicative of a steady rise in serious road accidents in the kingdom.

“This is enough evidence that plans executed during the past two years, including the Saher road monitoring system, have failed,” he said, adding that awareness raising campaigns organized by the Traffic Department needed to be improved.

Al Moajil urged ministers to commission a comprehensive independent study to make recommendations for how to cut the number of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia.