DAMMAM — At least 23 people die and more than 102 others become crippled every day as a result of traffic accidents all over the Kingdom, according to the annual report of the directorate general of traffic for the year 2015.
The report, published by Makkah daily on Wednesday, said there is an average of about 1,460 traffic accidents that result in deaths or serious injuries every day in the Kingdom.
The report said as many as 518,795 traffic accidents happened in the Kingdom last year, leaving 8,063 people dead and 36,302 injured.
Riyadh recorded the largest number of accidents followed by Makkah and Dammam.
Though Makkah occupies second place in the number of accidents, it tops all other towns and cities in the number of deaths and injuries.
Commenting on the report, Abdul Hameed Al-Moajil, chairman of the Society for Traffic Safety, said the figures were disappointing and are indicating a steady rise in the number of accidents.
He said compared to the previous year, the number of accidents, deaths and injuries were much higher.
"This is enough evidence that the plans executed during the past two years, including the Saher monitoring system, have failed," he said.
He also said the awareness campaigns organized by the Traffic Department from time to time were useless.
Al-Moajil said the Kingdom occupies the fifth place worldwide in the number of fatal traffic accidents.
He called for a comprehensive and an independent study to specify the loopholes and suggest remedies that will cut down the number of traffic accidents.
Al-Moajil however suggested the continuation of the traffic awareness campaigns and called for the deployment of more policemen along the streets to check for violators.
