Every year, about 1.35 million people die from road traffic injuries, the World Health Organisation has said.
A further 50 million people worldwide are hurt or disabled by such injuries, placing the issue of road safety high on the UN agenda.
However, much of the world has fallen short of a target to halve the number of road deaths and injuries by 2020.
People aged 15 to 29 were found to have the greatest chance of dying in a road crash. Traffic injuries are currently thought to be the eighth leading cause of death across the world. This is predicted to climb to seventh by 2030.
But how does the Middle East compare when it comes to keeping people safe on the roads?
Anyone can get a driver's licence without even taking the driver's test. All one would have to do is 'grease the wheel' a little bit
Tammam Nakkash,
road safety campaigner, Lebanon
Dave Cliff, chief executive of the Global Road Safety Partnership at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told The National there is a problem in the region of "significant underreporting" of accidents and deaths.
“Underreporting of fatal and serious-injury crashes is a major global problem, particularly in low and middle-income countries," he said.
“GRSP highlighted this exact issue to the recent UN high-level meeting on road safety."
He suggested that lower traffic volumes in many countries as a result of Covid-19 restrictions could also have had an effect.
The next WHO global status report is due in 2023.
UAE
Despite increasing levels of traffic, road deaths in the UAE have almost halved since 2014 due to a series of safety measures and regulations.
In 2014, 712 deaths were recorded in road traffic accidents by the Ministry of Interior. This fell to 675 in 2015, 448 in 2019 and 381 last year.
Government figures show that road deaths have fallen by two thirds since 2008, when 1,072 were reported.
But despite the drop in the number of recorded UAE road deaths, WHO figures suggest considerably more people could have lost their lives in these circumstances.
In 2015, the WHO estimated there were 1,676 road deaths compared with 870 in 2019 — about double the 448 figure recorded in the Emirates.
The WHO estimates road traffic deaths by assessing a range of national variables.
They include gross domestic product, total vehicles for every 1,000 people, the number of roads, national speed limits, access to health care, the working population, percentage of motorbikes, corruption and national policies for walking and cycling.
Saudi Arabia
The number of people killed as a result of road traffic crashes in Saudi Arabia has more than doubled in a decade to 27.4 for every 100,000 people.
The country aims to reduce the number of road traffic deaths to fewer than 10 for every 100,000 people by 2030.
In 2015, the WHO reported 8,313 road deaths but that number leapt to 12,317 in 2019 — the most recent annual data set.
Road safety strategies include a penalty point system and ensuring motorcycle helmet laws apply to all riders, both drivers and passengers.
Seat-belt laws have been extended to include all occupants in the rear, while drink-driving laws are also in effect despite a nationwide alcohol ban.
In 2018, the National Ministerial Traffic Safety Committee began a four-year road safety strategy. It established collaborative relationships between the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior and others to address the different causes of road traffic accidents.
Oman
Speeding and poor driving skills are being blamed as the main causes of road accidents in the sultanate.
In 2015, the country's number of road deaths was 696 — that fell to 527 in 2019.
Revised seat-belt laws to apply to passengers as well as drivers, new child-restraint laws and a ban on using mobile phones at the wheel addressed some of the main causes of road deaths.
Bahrain
In 2021, Bahrain achieved the largest reduction in road deaths and injuries in the region — a 35 per cent drop.
Overall since 2015, road deaths have fallen from an annual number of 103 to 85 in 2019.
Although the development of new cities increased traffic volume, it did not result in more road injuries and fatalities.
This was a result of better traffic monitoring, more rigorous law enforcement by increased foot and car patrols, and engineering solutions in congested areas.
Jordan
The number of road deaths have fallen in Jordan from 2,220 in 2015 to 1,717 in 2018 according to the WHO — but the country remains plagued by high traffic-related fatalities and injuries.
National seat-belt laws apply only to drivers and are moderately enforced.
According to the GRSP, only 42 per cent of front-seat occupants were found to be wearing seat-belts.
There are no child-restraint laws and a third of those killed on the roads are pedestrians.
The Traffic Department has been more active in campaigning publicly for road safety, mainly by publishing regular statistics and shaming reckless drivers on social media and publishing photos of horrific accidents.
Roads in Jordan are poorly maintained although the Saudi Fund for Development has paid in the past decade for major motorways, including a large proportion of the desert road south, a new motorway to Zarqa — Jordan’s second city — and the airport road.
There is the occasional speed camera but not to the degree that exists in the Gulf.
The Traffic Department often cites speeding as a cause of accidents.
Lebanon
A 2021 study by the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut found 72 per cent of those injured in road accidents were men, with an average age of 32.
It also found almost half of those injured (48 per cent) were passengers aged 15-29, while motorcyclists suffered the greatest proportion of injuries at 38 per cent.
Figures from the WHO showed traffic deaths rose from 1,058 in 2015, to 1,127 in 2019.
Half of the accidents occurred on unmarked two-way roads.
A national assessment in 2016 looked at the functional and structural condition of the roads and rated the safety of the network for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists from one to five stars.
Only 10 per cent of the network was awarded the benchmark three-star rating or better.
Since then, a $170 million loan from the World Bank under the Safer Roads Investment Plan aimed to improve safety on roads to give 70 per cent of routes a three-star rating by 2030.
In 2021, a further 20 auditors were trained to monitor improvements and conduct regular safety checks at traffic pinch-points in Beirut.
Tammam Nakkash, a transport systems expert and public transportation advocate, says traffic safety laws are rarely enforced consistently.
"Anyone can get a driver's licence without even taking the driver's test," Mr Nakkash said. "All one would have to do is 'grease the wheel' a little bit."
Despite being legally obliged to, drivers and front-seat passengers rarely wear their seat-belts and the law is often not enforced — neither is a law stipulating that babies and infants must ride in child-seats until they are 5.
Mr Nakkash, who had long advocated a reliable public transport system in Lebanon, said road safety in the country had essentially crumbled.
"We are worse off than it ever was in the past, we are similar to how Beirut was around 1994-1995," he said, referring to a turbulent era of post-war reconstruction, when much of the capital's infrastructure was in disarray after 15 years of civil war.
"It's chaos."
Additional reporting by Nada Homsi in Beirut and Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Jordan
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2a)
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Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Results
6.30pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes Group Three US$200,000 (Turf) 2,000m; Winner: Ghaiyyath, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Cliffs Of Capri, Tadhg O’Shea, Jamie Osborne.
7.40pm: UAE Oaks Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: Zabeel Mile Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Zakouski, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
8.50pm: Meydan Sprint Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: Waady, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
RESULTS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
HAJJAN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Abu%20Bakr%20Shawky%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3EStarring%3A%20Omar%20Alatawi%2C%20Tulin%20Essam%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al-Hasawi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
JERSEY INFO
Red Jersey
General Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the leader of the General Classification by time.
Green Jersey
Points Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprints.
White Jersey
Young Rider Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the best young rider born after January 1, 1995 in the overall classification by time (U25).
Black Jersey
Intermediate Sprint Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the rider who has gained the most Intermediate Sprint Points.
The%20Roundup
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Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20750hp%20at%207%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20800Nm%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%207%20Speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20332kph%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012.2L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYear%20end%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh1%2C430%2C000%20(coupe)%3B%20From%20Dh1%2C566%2C000%20(Spider)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
