To enhance traffic safety at roads, the General Directorate of Traffic will take new measures including installation of radars at pedestrian crossing points in the streets to monitor the vehicles that violate the right of pedestrians at safe crossings, said a senior official at the department.

“The new radar would be tested soon after receiving it from the company concerned. It would capture any vehicle violating the rights of pedestrians while crossing from pedestrian crossing points,” said Major General Mohammed Saad Al Kharji, Director General of Traffic .

Speaking to reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the seminar on ‘Camping Without Accidents’ held at the department headquarters, Al Kharji said that despite the decline in traffic accidents, injuries and deaths resulting from camping sites, the department continues its awareness drives related to the importance of adhering to traffic rules.

The seminar was attended by a number of officials and students and aimed at promoting traffic awareness among the campers and preserve their lives and property. It discussed some negative violations committed at the camping sites, focusing more on safety measures which should be followed in riding motorcycles and dune buggies.

Major General Al Kharji called on all those who wish to camp this year to follow the rules and traffic regulations to ensure a camping without accidents and strictly adhere to security and safety measures to preserve lives and property.

The department will deploy more patrols this year at camping sites along with the patrols of Al Fazaa and other security departments, he said.

Regarding Sealine accidents, he emphasised that all the statistics showed decline in accident in this area but as people used to share photos and videos of accidents therefore they were usually discussed more by the people.

Al Kharji stressed on the importance of the role of the family in the follow-up of their children in order to guide them to abide by safe driving rules.

Speaking at the seminar, Colonel Jaber Mohamed Rashid Odaiba, Assistant Director of the Media and Traffic Awareness Department, said that the Traffic Awareness Department will launch this year an awareness campaign under the slogan “Camping Without Accidents” to achieve a number of objectives.

The objectives include promoting the concept of social responsibility, the need to adhere to traffic rules during the camping season, and spreading awareness of traffic rules in order to reduce erroneous phenomena that may cause death and injury among young people.

First-Lieutenant Abdul Rahman Al Aawi, an officer at Traffic Studies and Research Department, said that vast majority of traffic accidents recorded last year in the camping areas were minor accidents constituting an average of about 83 percent of the total accidents at those sites. The serious accidents fell to 12 percent in the same year compared to 19 percent in 2016. The Hamad Trauma Center (HTC) receives around 2,000 to 2500 cases annually.