Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH – The Ministry of Transport has claimed that the number of road accidents has reduced by 6 percent in March despite the fact that the traffic rate increased by 21.7 percent, reaching 55 million trips in March compared to 46 million in February. In its March report, the ministry said it adopted a new criteria to assess the level of services and analyze the speed of vehicles.

Jeddah-Makkah (Haramain) Road is the most crowded with daily average of 88,464 vehicles (81,440 cars and 8,024 trucks). The morning rush hour begins at 8 a.m. and the evening at 4 p.m., according to the report.

The road leading to Riyadh off Al-Qassim Road had the highest traffic rate at daily average of 93.316 vehicles. The day's rush hour begins at 12 noon and evening at 11:00 pm. The average of traffic in the last three months reached 80,428 vehicles. The road leading to Riyadh off Jeddah Road came second with daily average of 64,206 vehicles.

Riyadh-Bisha and Aldawasir-Riyadh roads registered the highest rate of overspeeding with the former registering an overspeed of 140 kilometer per hour, followed by Alhouta-Alaflaj Road and Alsadawi-Alrafi Road.

Wadi Aldawsir-Riyadh Road saw the highest rate of overspeeding of trucks at 100 kilometer per hour, followed by Riyadh-Bisha Road and Alsaleel-Riyadh Road. The report said Madinah-Makkah Road, Jeddah-Jazan Road, Riyadh-Makkah Road and Aldarb-Abha-Kharj-Batja Road registered a lower number of road accidents. The report stressed that the Saher surveillance cameras helped reduce the number of road accidents and enhance safety.