Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — In an unprecedented move by a private company, Al-Wefaq Car Rental has launched an initiative called "Safe Roads" to raise awareness on the dangers of reckless driving and to bring down the human and material losses from road accidents.

The joint initiative between Al-Wefaq Car Rental, Medgulf and Al-Majdouie Hyundai was announced in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Commenting on the campaign, Dhafer Al-Qahtani, HR director of Al- Wefaq Car Rental, said: "Our awareness campaign aims at raising awareness of safe driving and road safety among all members of society, especially the youth, Kingdomwide. This program comes within the general framework of our social responsibility activities, assuring our complete commitment toward the community in which we operate. Through this campaign, we seek to create a generation, which is fully aware of proper driving and which will adhere to traffic rules and road safety."

He said road safety campaigns supported by local and private authorities are required and can have a positive impact on improving awareness.

Al-Qahtani also announced the launch of the initiative to collect one million pledges through the # I_pledge_Saudi Arabia.

Describing what distinguishes Al-Wefaq Car Rental initiative from other campaigns, he said it is mainly based on the participation of the public in the campaign and its interaction with its activities. He said, "It is expected that many public and private officials will participate in the campaign and interact with people to increase awareness and reduce traffic accidents.

According to statistics, highlighted by Al-Qahtani,

the Kingdom ranked second in the Middle East region and 23rd worldwide in the number of road deaths with

1,058,452 accidents and 9,000 deaths annually.

Al-Qahtani said victims of car accidents constitute 30 percent of all hospital in the Kingdom. He also pointed out that 80 percent of disabled people in the Kingdom are victims of car accidents and 72 percent of causalities from accidents are young people.

Yousef Al Majdouie, vice president of Al-Majdouie Motors said, "This campaign is different in its content and objectives. So, when we were approached seeking support, we did not hesitate to be part of it because we have common goals that serve the community in a big and effective way.”

Salim Al Suliman, managing director of sales and marketing at Medgulf, pointed out that Medgulf supports any projects pertaining to social responsibility and the initiative is part of the company's community initiatives aimed at promoting correct driving behaviors to reduce deaths and injuries resulting from accidents.