Doha: The General Directorate of Traffic at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has said that the road accidents rate for every 10,000 vehicles was 0.9 in 2019 compared to 1.1 in 2018, a reduction of 18.2 percent. 

The General Directorate of Traffic further revealed that the total number of road accidents last year reached 217,353, compared to 223,718 in 2018. It also said that the number of driving licenses in the country was 1,612,218 in 2019 compared to 1,528,496 during the previous year. 

The traffic officials shared these statistics during an open awareness webinar on traffic safety held yesterday in cooperation with Public Relations Department of MoI. 

The webinar was open to all groups of society to participate, including representatives of companies, institutions and individuals. Officers from different traffic departments including Traffic Awareness Department, Traffic Safety, Patrols, Traffic Investigation and Licensing Department talked about different topics in the seminar, which was presided over by First Lieutenant, Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani, officer at the Traffic Safety Department. 

Captain Saud Abdullah Al Hamad from the Traffic Safety Department presented the tasks that the traffic personnel perform in regulating the movement of vehicles, supervising and being present on the road to reduce the occurrence of accidents and to control violators of traffic rules.

He also noted that the department carries out studies on all traffic diversions and issues permits related to road closures and plans.

Captain Abdel Wahid Gharib Al Anezi from the Traffic Awareness Department explained instructions related to road safety, reviewing a number of awareness programmes prepared by the Department in this regard.

Captain Hamad Talib Al Marri from the Patrols and Traffic Investigation Department addressed the role that traffic patrols play on the roads in monitoring and regulating the traffic flow. 

In light of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, traffic patrols also work to ensure adherence by road users to the health safety guidelines issued by the authorities, especially with regard to limiting the number of passengers, and wearing masks.

The programme concluded with a presentation by Lieutenant Yousef Fahad Al Ali, from the Licensing Affairs Department, in which he explained the tasks that the department carries out, such as supervising the work of the external sections related to driving licenses and vehicle licenses of all kinds, and issuing traffic certificates. 

He explained the procedures involved in issuing and cancelling vehicle licenses, and issuing driving licenses of all kinds and documenting all data related to mechanical vehicles and driving licences.

SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR