I have been telling people for a while that it is totally safe to live here....except for the driving. As the population increases, it seems like it is getting worse. This article appeared in the paper today:
Road Accidents Claim 92 Lives
Doha--The death toll in road accidents in the country so far this year has been high at 92, a senior official from the Department of Traffic and Patrol Police told an emergency health care conference being held by Hamad Medical Corporation.
The average works out at 20 deaths a month since not even four and a half month have lapsed this year, Lt. Jabor Adeema told the health convention.
He said that it is expected that the death toll in road mishaps would be high this year as compared to 2006. "We can say this based on the high figure now," he said.
Some 270 people had perished in road accidents last year and this accounted for 30 percent of total number of deaths in the country. This is a big percentage. At least 86 of the deceased were Qatari nationals. The figure was up from 69 in 2005.
Most of those who have died this year were young people. This suggests that despite the road safety awareness campaign launched by the traffic department, the youth continue to indulge in reckless driving, Adeema said.
The death toll had almost double last year since 2003 when it was 150 and it could be because of the increasing population.
OK--270 might not seem like a lot to you compared to 44,000+ that die in the United States each year, but consider this: If you compare the rates per 100,000 population, the US has 14.66 per 100,000 and Qatar has 23 per 100,000 (for 2006--The projected rate for 2007 is 26.66 per 100,000.) Add to this that Qatar has no proper freeway/highways, no canyons, no snow or ice, and no drunk driving. Now you start to get a picture of why I say my number 1 goal is to leave this place without ever having an accident! I am just glad that they are starting to publicly acknowledge the problem.
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