(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
By Sidi Mohamed
DOHA: Commercial streets and densely populated areas are the places where most motorists commit violations, including using the mobile phone and not wearing the seat belt while driving.
Major Jaber Mohamed Rashid Odaiba, Assistant Director, Media & Traffic Awareness Department at the Ministry of Interior, told this daily: 'It is easy for patrols to catch violators in these places, while it is difficult on highways where it is hard to stop them.”
He said the campaign to catch violators continues and police patrols are not only in Doha but also everywhere to register traffic offences.
However, he said the number of violations they have registered has declined 'as motorists have become more aware and careful not to commit such violations due to the campaign through media”.
Major Odaiba said: 'The summer is an opportunity to intensify the campaign because there are no major traffic jams. We can easily stop and fine any violator. What we are doing now, we hope, motorists will not repeat such violations.”
In the beginning of the campaign, Major Odaiba had told this daily that the main focus of the campaign is to curb violations — using the mobile phone and not wearing the seat belt while driving — because many motorists not only use their mobiles to make calls but also WhatsApp, Faceook and other social media sites and use Pokémon GO — a new smartphone game — which can endanger their and others"; safety.
Al Shamal patrols, South patrols, Dukhan patrols, those in Doha and others are participating in the campaign. Every week, the department evaluates the impact of the campaign and its results.
The General Traffic Directorate at the ministry launched the campaign on July 24, which continues until the end of summer.
A recent study by the Department of Injuries and Accidents at Hamad Medical Corporation said that 26 percent of injured admitted to hospital had used seat belt. It showed that the number of deaths due to not wearing seat belt had increased three-fold, Al Sharq reports.
The study said the percentage of death was higher among men than women and not using seat belt increased the severity of injuries.
It also said that the main reasons behind traffic accidents were the use of the mobile phone, followed by eating and drinking while driving. It said head injuries were the most common, followed by those in the chest and stomach, and bone fractures.
The Peninsula