The GCC Traffic Week will kick off on March 12 under the theme “Your Life is a Trust”, which has been designed by Qatar General Directorate of Traffic.
The theme is for 2017-18. The logo of the traffic safety campaign features a heart which symbolises life. In the heart there lies a collage of various things like mobile, speed, social media, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Radi Al Hajri, Director of Media and Awareness told The Peninsula.
The GCC Traffic Week provides an opportunity for GCC traffic officials to discuss and exchange their views and experiences about traffic safety.
“Since we started the campaign, the violation of parking at mosques has decreased more than 65 percent. We received very good response from Imams and mosques,” Al Hajri said.
He said that there were some people who still violate and park in the mosque premises, "but we have caught those violators and we hope in this year this phenomenon will disappear.”
He further said that many entities such as the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and universities were cooperating with the traffic department to spread road safety message. “The decrease in traffic accidents last year happened due to collective efforts," he noted.
And about the change in traffic laws which will make wearing seatbelts on backseat obligatory, he said that some articles could be amended in the traffic law depending on situation as the aim of the department was to curb violations.
“Our aim is to maintain people's safety and that is why we are taking care of seatbelt and urging people to use it in all situations."
He said the department was also focusing on annual vehicles technical check-ups because it was also related to people's safety.
“We urge youth to use seatbelt. They are wearing seatbelts while in desert on hunting spree but usually do not use them in the city,” he concluded.
