Assistant Director General of the General Traffic Department for Technical Affairs, Brigadier General Muhammad Al-Adwani Al-Adwani speaking to colleague Muhammad Al-Sharhan about the “Black Dots” project (Photo by Nofal Ibrahim)
Assistant Director General of the General Traffic Department for Technical Affairs, Brigadier General Muhammad Al-Adwani, revealed Kuwait is almost the first country in the Gulf in the number of traffic accident deaths, considering that there is no escape from harsher penalties to control the behavior of vehicle drivers, protect lives of people, and reduce recklessness on the Kuwaiti roads and highways.
Al-Adwani told Al-Jarida daily, that solving the traffic problem requires the cooperation of the integrated societal system, starting with legislation and ending with the vehicle driver, pointing out that the General Traffic Department is part of the solution, not all of it.
Al-Adwani explained there are three main causes of traffic accidents — the vehicle, the driver, and the road. By extrapolating traffic accidents in our country based on its geographical area, we will find that the numbers are frightening and therefore the GTD is in fact waging a war in the streets, in order to save lives.
He revealed that 92 percent of traffic accidents are due to the vehicle driver, compared to a small percentage due to the road, and others to the condition of the vehicle, and said he is confident that the Kuwaiti society will understand the importance of increasing traffic penalties, but was quick to deny the aim is to harm the citizen’s pocket.
Reducing recklessness when driving vehicles, which has already happened in a number of neighboring countries, Al-Adwani said that the Technical Affairs Sector of the General Traffic Department has begun drawing up the “Black Points” project, which identifies the areas with the most recorded vehicle accidents, injuries and deaths, to determine the location of the fault and the cause of the accidents. And the details of the meeting:
In fact, he identified three traffic problems, not only in the State of Kuwait but in all countries of the world — the first of which is traffic accidents, then traffic congestion, then environmental pollution.
Of course, the most important problem is accidents, due to the resulting deaths, injuries, and other effects, whether economic or damage to vehicles or public facilities, as well as the social effects resulting from them.
“We are waging a war in the streets,” he said, “to protect the lives of road users and the reckless motorists also. We, in the State of Kuwait, are almost the first country in the Gulf Cooperation Council in the number of accident deaths in relation to the number of citizens, and therefore the General Traffic Department pays great attention to these accidents to reduce them and avoid their causes.
“However, we are completely blamed for the absence of radical solutions sometimes, as some forget that the GTD management is part of the solution, not the entire solution, which is due to an integrated societal system, starting with legislation and ending with the vehicle driver.
He said the current penalties for traffic violations are no longer effective, and keeping the penalty for speeding at 30 dinars is no longer effective. “However, if we increased the penalties, we would find a significant decrease in the number of violations. Increasing the penalties will instill fear in the vehicle driver not to commit violations, and thus accidents will decrease and most traffic problems will end.
Speaking of comparison with other Gulf countries he said in some countries “we found that after the tightening of penalties, traffic took another form, completely different from the period that preceded the implementation, and we have here in Kuwait in the last three years, when we increased the number of cameras, traffic control on the roads, security presence, and patrols, we noticed that the rate of accidents also decreased, as did deaths.”
In contrast to what was the case, for example, in the year 2018, when traffic accident deaths reached 403, and then decreased in the year 2022, to 322. This is a success in reducing the death rate, achieved by increasing traffic control, cameras, and traffic supervision.
On the other hand, there are severe penalties punishable by law and legal provisions that prevent them, such as crossing red lights, speeding, recklessness, and performing races.
The GTD Assistant Director General revealed that there are severe penalties in one of the Gulf countries, indicating that this is intended to deter violations.
He added that the penalty for anyone participating in car races without a permit from the police in that country is equivalent to about 8,000 Kuwaiti dinars.
As for the violation of someone driving a car who is under 18 years of age, which is one of our major problems and has reached the point of phenomenon, it was stated that the penalty in that particular country is equivalent of 4,000 dinars.
Read Today's News TODAY... on our Telegram Channel click here to join and receive all the latest updates t.me/thetimeskuwait
