CENG Dean and QTTSC Director Dr Khalifa Al Khalifa (right) and Ministry of Transport and Communications Assistant Undersecretary for Land Transport Rashid Taleb Al Nabit.
The Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center (QTTSC) at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU-CENG) held on May 8 and yesterday a workshop on “Road Freight Transport and Safety” to celebrate the UN Road Safety Week 2017.
Sponsored by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and Eastern Synergy Contracting, the two-day workshop aimed to provide a focused platform to share and develop the necessary research and development (R&D) cooperation and partnership that address road safety of heavy vehicles and regulations of road freight transport operations.
It brought together local and leading international academics and representatives from the public and private sectors to share their ideas and experience in the area of heavy vehicle road safety.
Attendees included CENG Dean and QTTSC Director Dr Khalifa Al Khalifa, Ministry of Transport and Communications Assistant Undersecretary for Land Transport Rashid Taleb Al Nabit, and representatives from the General Directorate of Traffic and National Traffic Safety Committee as well as CENG faculty and staff.
The event’s programme included numerous presentations delivered by speakers from QU, Center for Truck and Bus Safety at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – South Africa, Dallah Driving Academy, Eastern Synergy Contracting, General Directorate of Traffic, Hamad General Hospital Trauma and Emergency Department, Karwa/Mowasalat Driving School, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Health of Sultanate of Oman, National Traffic Safety Committee, Public Works Authority “Ashghal” – Qatar, QNRF, South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), and Transport Research Institute (TRI) of Edinburgh Napier University.
They presented a wide range of topics such as “Periodic Technical Inspection: Global Perspective”, “Periodic Technical Inspections in Qatar”, “The Potential of Voluntary Self-Enforcement Schemes in the Heavy Vehicle Industry to Reduce Road Crash Risks – The Case of South Africa”, “Heavy Vehicles Crash Investigations – MIROS’ experience”, “Systems Influence on Heavy Vehicle Drivers Behaviours in Oman”, “HGV and causality accidents: A UK perspective”, “Trends and Patterns of Work-Related Road Traffic Injuries in Heavy Vehicles in Qatar”, “Best Practices in Modeling Freight Transport: Benefits and possible implications”, and “Heavy Vehicle Safety Research: What does the Research Tell Us”.
Dr Khalifa Al Khalifa said: “The exponential growth in economic activities in Qatar resulted in a dramatic change in the vehicle demographics of the country. Trucks are now a common sight on Qatari roads, and within the urban cities or the industrial communities across the country.
