Number of fatal accidents drop due to stiffer penalties

The increase in penalties for some traffic violations has led to a drop in the number of deaths on Qatar road accidents, shows a study recently published by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.

The study focused on accidents last year and is based on police reports. About six percent of accidents resulted in deaths, according to the report.

Friday was considered the safest day of the week to drive on roads in Qatar, the report added.

The reason behind most accidents was lack of focus on the part of motorists, in addition to the use of mobile phone while driving, non-compliance with traffic rules and overspeeding.

New motorists were most prone to accidents, the study said. As many as half of motorists involved in accidents had less than six years' driving experience.

Awareness campaigns conducted by authorities achieved some of their goals, the study added.

The government takes the issue of traffic accidents seriously and impose strict penalties on violators.

Recently Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani endorsed amendments to the traffic law.

Among the changes is increasing the penalty from QR500 to QR1,000 for wrongly overtaking on the right and illegally parking in spots reserved for the disabled people. [The Peninsula]