90% of Traffic Accidents Due to Human Error, Specifically Failure to Obey Traffic Rules

The Director of the Ahmadi Traffic Licensing Department, Colonel Fahad Al-Khalidi, emphasized the importance of enhancing traffic awareness to reduce accidents in Arab countries. In a statement to KUNA during his participation in the 22nd Arab Conference of Heads of Traffic Departments, held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council in Tunis, Al-Khalidi stressed the importance of using digital technology to curb traffic accidents and ensure the protection of road users. He said that accident prevention requires strengthening awareness of the necessity to respect road laws.

He highlighted the importance of unifying the Arab awareness discourse on road safety across all Arab countries, noting its role in enhancing joint Arab efforts. Al-Khalidi presented Kuwait’s experience in the General Directorate of Traffic, expressing the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior’s commitment to strengthening joint Arab action to serve road security in our Arab region.

In this regard, Al-Khalidi also emphasized the importance of enhancing joint Arab cooperation among traffic departments to address emerging challenges and develop road safety systems and plans. Alongside Colonel Al-Khalidi, Colonel Abdullah Burhamah, Director of Capital City Traffic Patrols, and First Lieutenant Fatima Al-Dhawadi, representing the International Relations Department, represented Kuwait at the conference.

The 22nd Arab Conference of Heads of Traffic Departments, held at the General Secretariat of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council in Tunis, kicked off with the participation of heads of traffic departments and their representatives from Arab countries, including Kuwait, to discuss efforts to enhance road safety and unify the awareness discourse on road safety.

In his opening speech at the conference, Secretary-General of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council, Mohamed Kouman, called for enhancing awareness of the dangers of traffic accidents in Arab countries, citing what he described as “numerous tragedies” occurring on roads due to these accidents, which claim thousands of lives annually, injure tens of thousands, and cause material losses amounting to tens of billions of dollars.

Kouman noted that the latest statistics on traffic accidents in just 10 Arab countries reached nearly one million incidents, resulting in the deaths of approximately 11,000 people and injuries to around 120,000, indicating the scale of losses if data were available from all countries. He urged member states to provide data on traffic accidents, enabling the issuance of comprehensive statistics that would provide traffic policymakers with accurate figures to formulate appropriate policies and adopt effective approaches to mitigate these tragedies, especially since nearly 90% of such accidents are caused by human factors, primarily road users’ failure to respect traffic rules.

He stressed the importance of directing efforts toward educating road users on the necessity of adhering to traffic rules and etiquette, as well as addressing other causes related to road defects, vehicle conditions, and other factors, emphasizing the need to unify the awareness discourse on road safety across all Arab countries.