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The Pedestrian’s Traffic Safety Guide Through Qatar

The Pedestrian’s Traffic Safety Guide Through Qatar

The country’s National Traffic Safety Committee just identified five new ‘black spots’ putting pedestrians in danger, here’s how to stay safe.

Earlier last week the Qatari National Traffic Safety Committee held a meeting to identify traffic ‘black spots’ where pedestrians are highly exposed to potential accidents, and to try to find ways to limit accident at these spots.

According to the Ministry of Interior, the 57 pedestrian deaths on Qatari road last year accounted from about a third of all traffic related deaths in 2016.

The Peninsula reported that the five ‘black spots’ which stood out as jeopardizing to pedestrian traffic safety were the City Center Mall/Doha Convention Center junction, Al Khor Mall, Al Khaleej St., Al Meena St.(perpendicular to the Corniche) and Ahmed bin Ali St., which crosses TV Roundabout.

The NTSC urged authorities to speed up work on pedestrian bridges in the area and set a 2017-2022 Traffic Safety Action plan that will hopefully save more than 800 lives and prevent 2,000 injuries caused by traffic accidents over the coming 10 years.

However, until these bridges are completed, it is recommended that pedestrian take extra caution trying to cross the streets in those areas, or even avoid walking across on foot if not necessary.

The meeting also resulted in suggestion on speed limit changes in several areas. The maximum speed limit at Al Markhiya Street was recommended to be set at 80 km/h, between 50 and 60 km/h at the Convention Center, and at 50 km/h on B-Ring road.

Out of the 166 targets mentioned in the country’s current National Traffic Safety Strategy. 144 have been executed, while the remaining 22 have a deadline for July this year, according to the General Secretary of the National Traffic Safety Committee, Brigadier Mohammed Al Malki.

He added that the National Traffic Safety Strategy will try to reduce traffic mortality rates from 14 per 100,000 individuals to 6 by 2022 through a two-phase agenda executed over ten years.

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