File photo used for representation only
Doha: Research undertaken by the Hamad Trauma Center (HTC) shows that the road death rate in Qatar fell by 61 percent per 100,000 population from 2011 to 2020, the period of the first Decade of Action for Road Safety (DoARS) organised by the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration.
The research, which analysed national road traffic injury (RTI) and Qatar National Trauma Registry statistics from 2011 to 2020 was presented by Dr. Hassan Al Thani, Head of Trauma Services at HMC’s Hamad Trauma Center, at a recent event organised by the National Traffic Safety Committee to mark the launch of the second DoARS.
“The goal of the first DoARS was to halt or reverse the predicted increase in road traffic fatalities around the world and was based on concerted national efforts that applied the five-pillars approach: Road Safety Management, Safer Roads and Mobility, Safer Vehicles, Safer Road Users and Post-Crash Response,” said Dr. Al Thani.
“The 61 percent reduction in road deaths per 100,000 population in Qatar is an incredible achievement and this success is anchored on the planning and coordination work done by the National Traffic Safety Committee and Traffic Directorate of the Ministry of Interior and multi-disciplinary partnerships with the Public Health Department of the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Education, Ashghal, Qatar University Transportation and Traffic Safety Center and the Hamad Trauma Center,’ he added.
Hamad Trauma Center’s research found that while the population of Qatar increased by around 70 percent from 2011 to 2020, there was a 61 percent reduction in the rate of road deaths per 100,000 population.
It is estimated that as many as 858 potential road deaths were prevented from 2011 to 2020 due to the coordinated efforts for DoARS. The majority, 80 percent, of these road deaths still occurred in the pre-hospital setting, at the scene of the crash before reaching the trauma center.
Speaking at the event, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Al Malki, General Secretary of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said: “On this day that we launch the second Decade of Action for Road Safety, the National Traffic Safety Committee and all of its multi-sectoral stakeholders for road safety in Qatar, re-commit ourselves to making our roads safer for all road users. We thank all our partners for their contributions and look forward to continuing to coordinate efforts throughout the next decade in collaboration with our local and global partners.”
“These pre-hospital deaths highlight the need for more consistent and stringent enforcement of speed limits. By reducing the speed of impact, the excess force on impact that causes death at the scene of the crash is greatly reduced. The mandatory use of seatbelts and child car seats prevent impact within the vehicle and/or ejection from the vehicle, which are both identified as leading causes of death or severe injury in a crash,” said Dr. Rafael Consunji, Director of the Hamad Injury Prevention Program and Lead Author of the study.
