DOHA: A two-day conference on traffic safety kicked off yesterday at The Ritz Carlton Doha.
Entitled “Vision Zero Qatar-Sweden (Knowledge Sharing- Best Evidence Practice between Qatar and Sweden),” the event is organised by the National Committee for Traffic Safety in collaboration with the Swedish Authority and Maersk Oil Qatar.
Opening the event, Brig Muhammad Saad Al Kharji, Director General of General Directorate of Traffic, underscored the significance of the conference which stems from the crucial importance of the topic which is ‘Vision Zero traffic safety’ and also from learning about the practical experience of Sweden as a model to achieve this vision.
“Organising a forum that discusses the important elements of road safety is a work supported by the National Traffic Safety Committee at the heart of its duty and to the pursuit of ways to build safer roads in Qatar,” he said.
Brig Muhammad Abdulah Al Maliki, Secretary of National Traffic Safety Committee said that Vision Zero is a Swedish vision that aims to reduce deaths due to traffic accidents and to increase awareness among drivers and road users about traffic safety as well as provide them with the best to be applied to prevent and reduce accidents.
He stressed Qatar gives due importance to road safety and had formed several strategic initiatives, of which the most prominent one is the establishment of the National Traffic Safety Committee. This committee is entrusted for policy making on traffic safety in all aspects of educational, legislative, engineering and technical, engaged with all public and private institutions with the aim of integrating efforts and using them to serve traffic safety.
This strategy is implemented in two phases and is intended primarily to reduce the proportion of death incidents annually from 14 per 100000 to six per 100000 by 2022. He said results of the implementation of the strategy in the first half of the first phase exceeded expectations, where the percentage dropped to 8.5 percent in 2014.
He added that the tasks of this plan are distributed to 13 agencies in the public and private sectors including the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, Ashghal, General Directorate of Traffic, Supreme Council of Health (SCH), and Supreme Education Council among others.
Dr Wafa Al Yazidi, Director of Medical Rehabilitation at Hamad Medical Corporation said: “Through this forum we seek to develop a Qatari version of national vision on traffic safety throughout the review of the Vision Zero on road safety,” adding Vision Zero is a multinational vision that aims to reach the zero rate in deaths and serious injuries caused by road accidents.
She announced Doha would host the 24th International Traffic Medicine Association (ITMA) Congress in November this year which will gather experts from different disciplines in the fields of medicine, traffic and roads around the world.The Peninsula
