676 road deaths, 3,105 critical injuries in EP over 6 months

DAMMAM — The Traffic Department in the Eastern Province reported 676 deaths and 3,105 critical injuries in 2,104 accidents over the past six months. Sultan Al-Zahrani, in charge of traffic safety at the department, said an increase by 1 percent in comparison to the same period in 2015 when the department recorded a total of 2,090 accidents. “The accidents resulted in 676 deaths and 3,105 critical injuries. The rate of fatalities increased by 12 percent and the rate of injuries increased by 1 percent in comparison to the same period in 2015,” said Al-Zahrani. He said 31 percent of the accidents were in city where the rate of fatalities rose by 36 percent and the rate of critical injuries rose by 27 percent. “The highest number of deaths and injuries was in Hafr Al-Batin and Abqaiq and the lowest in Al-Ahsa and Jubail. The rate of highway accidents dropped by 22 percent, with rate of critical injuries from highway accidents decreasing by 17 percent and the rate of deaths by 3 percent,” said Al-Zahrani. He said the rate of traffic violations decreased by 30 percent. “The rate of road violations recorded by the Traffic Security has decreased by 23 percent while the rate of road violations recorded by the police increased by 32 percent,” said Al-Zahrani.