Some 101 people died in road accidents in the country in the first six months of this year, with two of them perishing after jumping traffic lights. A vast majority of the fatalities, however, occurred in mishaps resulting from breach of the prescribed speed limits, the traffic department said yesterday. The good news is that overall traffic violations are showing a downward trend in the country, said the department. The death toll in the first half of 2009 was slightly more at 104 and the drop, according to traffic officials, is due to preventive measures taken by them and road safety awareness drives. Overall, the number of road accidents fell 9.6 percent in the country in the first half of 2010 (the total being 2,319) as compared to the corresponding period in 2009 (the total being 2,564). And, importantly, the incidence of drivers jumping traffic lights, which is a serious violation, has come down 20 percent in the first six months of 2010 over the corresponding period last year. Addressing a news conference here yesterday, the Director of the Traffic Department, Brigadier Mohamed Saad Al Kharji, said the Ministry of Interior’s efforts to curb road mishaps were eventually bearing fruit. Present at the press briefing was Colonel Ibrahim Al Saad, who said traffic light jumping accounted for merely 2.2 percent of all road accidents. In most of the accidents (96.2 percent) no injuries were reported. Those causing minor injuries accounted for 1.8 percent of the total. Accidents that caused severe injuries accounted for three percent of the total while those that led to deaths had a one percent share in the total, the officials pointed out. Talking of court cases, they said the number had dropped significantly (37.7 percent) in the first half of this year over the first half of 2009. Some 3,984 cases were referred to the courts in the first six months of last year whereas the number was 2,482 this year. ILQ News

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar