Jeddah, July 05: Road accidents in Saudi Arabia cost an estimated SR26 billion annually, which is equal to four per cent of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product, according to Dr Ali Al Ghamdi, former chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee and professor of traffic and transport engineering at King Saud University.
During a discussion on the increasing number of accidents and high cost in Riyadh on Thursday, he said about one-thirds of government hospital beds are occupied by accident victims.
“About 45 per cent of accidents are caused by speeding,” he added.
Nearly 485,931 accidents took place on the Kingdom’s roads last year, killing 6,458 people and injuring 36,486. The number of accidents has been found to increase during the summer vacation.
According to the traffic police in Jeddah, 270 people were killed and 2,093 injured in 47,120 accidents in the past six months.
Speeding and violation of safety regulations were the main causes of these accidents.
Maj-Gen. Mohammed Abusaq, a member of the Shoura Council, said the 150-member consultative body has been urged by the higher authorities to make proposals to cut down the number of road accidents. He emphasised the need to strictly enforce traffic regulations.
Dr Mohammed Bakhsh, director of the emergency department at King Fahd Hospital, said the Ministry of Health was conducting a detailed study on the costs of treating road accident victims at public hospitals across the country.
He said the study would be published in four months.
“According to preliminary estimates, medical tests and care given to an accident victim could well be between SR100,000-SR120,000.
On learning about the amount spent for treating accident victims each year, a Saudi Aramco official said the money is enough to build three oil refineries,” Bakhsh said.
-Agencies