Under the theme “Traffic safety is a shared responsibility” the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) held a forum on Tuesday night to stress the collective role of the whole community to maintain road safety. Head of NTSC Brigadier Mohamed Abdulla al-Malki pointed out that the committee has great challenges ahead to effectively upgrade the road network in Qatar and make it safer. This requires the interactive collaboration of all entities in the country. The number of vehicles on the road increased from 287,512 in 2000 to 814,373 in 2011 due to the dramatic rise in population, 63.7% in 2011. Therefore, the load on roads is ever increasing which poses serious safety issues that should be addressed practically to maintain effective traffic safety. Hence came decision number 33 of the Cabinet for 2010 to establish NTSC. However, al-Malki stressed the role of the society in implementing a safe traffic culture as essential for achieving the required safety standards. He said: “We study every single road accident to analyse the reasons behind it. It is challenging to modify individual conduct in this respect to comply with the target community behaviour.” He also said that NTSC is working in co-operation with other organisations in the country to put a compressive national strategy for traffic safety. Within three months NTSC would complete an integrated traffic curriculum for experimental application at all schools starting from next school year. In delivering its message, NTSC has partnered with various entities which include the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the Ministry of Defence, the Supreme Education Council, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, the Public Works Authority and Qatar University. The forum witnessed a wide participation from officials from different state organisations and other members of the local society as well as various guests. The discussion was open for the participants to give their suggestions and ask questions as well. Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji, director of the Traffic Department said that usually accidents are preceded by traffic violations, so parents have to be aware of their sons’ road behaviour. He further called on the clergy to play an active role in spreading awareness among people to assume more road responsibility. Colonel Abdullah Khalifah al-Muftah, director of Public Relations Department at MoI, said there is an effective co-operation with the various foreign communities in the country to spread among them traffic awareness culture in their local languages. Gulf Times

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