TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Julia Cassano reports
Road accidents are becoming a major public health concern, with citizens urging people to be more mindful while driving. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as Saudi Arabia’s population has grown significantly, the number of vehicles has increased significantly and the road network has continued to expand.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.35 million people die on the world’s roads each year, and approximately 3,700 people die each day in cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles and trucks worldwide.
Furthermore, as reported, the influx of people on the roads has increased the number of road accidents, injuries and deaths. Many of these accidents, injuries and deaths could have been prevented if people had driven without using their cell phones, paying attention and not exceeding the speed limit.
There are frequent accidents on the highway or on the smaller roads, and the inhabitants of the kingdom are beginning to worry. One resident, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Tribune: “I drive to and from get off work most of the time, mainly on the highway, and I see people using their phones a lot while driving.
“I noticed they were looking down at the devices they usually had on their laps, and it made me more cautious when driving because they weren’t taking the right precautions to drive safely.”
While driving on the road, using a mobile phone can reduce your awareness of your surroundings and can affect your judgment of distance and your reaction time. “The influx of accidents is happening because people aren’t paying the right attention, and there’s not enough time to react well,” he said.
If the driver has to apply the brakes quickly to avoid hitting the car in front, it could result in a serious accident if the car behind is not paying attention. As long as a person is not paying attention while driving, an accident will happen.
According to the World Health Organization, a National Road Safety Strategy is in place to urge people on the road to drive more safely. However, public compliance with these laws is generally poor, the report added. Users on social media urged people on the road to adopt better driving habits to reduce accidents in Saudi Arabia.
“No one in Bahrain obeys driving laws,” wrote one netizen. “On the way to work today, I saw a car driving very slowly. When passing by, I saw the driver playing with his mobile phone.” Many traffic rules and regulations have been implemented in the Kingdom, to reduce road accidents; however, people are not following them.
According to reports, Bahrain has enacted laws such as heavy fines (ranging from BD50 to BD500) and up to six months in prison for using a mobile phone while driving, but people have not stopped. No phone call or text message is worth a major accident that could result in death or serious injury.
