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1988 108: 34The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of HealthA. Bener, A.M. Abouammoh and G.R. Elkahlout

Road Traffic Accidents in Riyadh  

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Road Traffic Accidents in RiyadhA. BENER and A. M. ABOUAMMOHDepartment of Statistics, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455 Riyadh 11451,Saudi ArabiaG. R. ELKAHLOUTDepartment of Mathematics, University of Technology, Loughborough, Leics LE11 3TU,United Kingdom

ABSTRACTIN RIYADH, the capital of Saudi Arabia, develop-ment has been taking place very rapidly. The Saudigovernment investment of oil industry revenueshas played a major role in development. Naturallysome problems, including road traffic accidents, hasincreased significantly as a result of development.The objective of this paper is to discuss the magni-

tude and the epidemiology of motor vehicle accidentsand their resulting casualties which have occurredduring the period 1974-85. It was observed that Riyadhhas higher accidents rates but lower casualty rates thanKuwait.

INTRODUCTIONIN THE developing countries vehicle ownership rates arein general rising fast. It is not uncommon for ownershiplevels to double over a few years. As a result, road trafficaccidents in developing countries are becoming a majorproblem, with some distinct differences from theaccidents in the industrialised nations, Mackay (1984).Road traffic accidents are an epidemic of modem

times. Epidemological studies are important for anycontemporary epidemic and is necessary for controland treatment of their effects. Traffic accidents can becontributed to human, vehicular, and environmentalfactors, Fraser-Moodie (1976). A detailed study showedthat driver errors were wholly or partly responsible for85% of accidents. Conversely the environmental andthe vehicle caused accidents are relatively few-lessthan 5% each when acting independently or in combi-nation.During the last two decades the types of factors lead-

ing to motor vehicle accidents and casualities werelinked to those causing other diseases. This fact madetraffic accidents suitable for epidemological approach.The problem has been extensively studied in developedcountries. Few authors have attempted to point out theprincipal epidemological features in developingcountries, such as Schram (1970), Norman (1973), El-Saif ( 1973) Jacobs and Sayer ( 1977), Asogwa ( 1979),Bayoumi (1981), Mufti ( 1983), Jinadu (1984), Benerand El-Sayyad (1985), Said ain Jadaan ( 1985), Mekkey(1985), Lamm et al. ( 1985), Cochrane et al. ( 1986) andMufti et al. ( 1986).Motor vehicle accidents have become one of the

major problems in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Drugs andalcohol have an insignificant effect on road trafficaccidents due to the prohibition against sale and con-sumption of alcohol as mandated by Islamic law. Theban on women driving has substantially reduced thenumber of vehicles on the roads. Even so vehicle own-ership has doubled in short and regular intervals. One

main reason for this increase is due to the availabilityof petrol at a remarkably low price, it is perhaps to beexpected that the number of tra~c accidents would risedramatically.The purpose of this paper is to review the sources of

the problem, to present a statistical information ofavailable data, and to offer some recommendationsaimed at reducing traffic accident frequency and(severity. It is hoped that the results and conclusion ofthis study will be useful to traffic authorities in majorareas in general and particulary in Riyadh.

MATERIALTHE DATA used for this paper were taken from the Minis-try of Interior, Directorate of Traffic’s yearly statisticalreports, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These data encompassthe greater Riyadh area which includes the city suburbs.The present study is based on data collected from trafficaccidents which had occurred in Riyadh during theperiod 1974-85.The traffic police register contains the following

information: The accidents; time of accidents, days ornights; day of the week; type of vehicle; driver’s age;nationality of drivers; licensed or unlicensed drivers;types of accidents; conditions of the vehicles; and thecauses of injuries and deaths.This paper discusses the magnitude of road traffic

accidents m Riyadh during the period 1974-85, andcompare some of the results with those of another rich,developing (rentier) country, namely Kuwait. Thosetwo cities, have had rapid expansion of road construc-tion and increase in the number of registered vehicles.The two countries have also some similar culturalfactors. For example, the sale and consumption ofalcohol is prohibited by Islamic law in both countries.The violation of alcohol prohibition is reported to bevery small and hence negligible in these two countries.These are the main factors that make our comparisonreasonable.

METHODSTHE IMPORTANCE of statistical methods in roadaccidents analysis, as well as accidents preventionresearch, has onl been recognised in the last few years.A successful Traffic management and traffic safety pro-gramme depend in the first place on the basic factsincluding figures concerning the problems of roadtraffic accidents.We have compiled, processed and analyzed data of

reported road traffic accidents over 11 years in centralRiyadh and present the results. We review the sourceof the problem, present a statistical analysis and com-

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ment on the available data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSTHERE ARE an average of 0.89 cars for each person and1.9 cars for each family in Riyadh. Some 82% of carsinvolved in accidents were in good condition. The aver-age number of drivers per accident is 1.4, 38% of allinvolved drivers in accidents had not had drivinglicences, even though there has been a driving schoolin Riyadh for several years. The high percentage ofunlicensed drivers is mainly due to the lack of trafficlaw enforcement, as well as a general public disregardfor the penalty imposed on violators. At present, thepenalty for driving without a licence is 10 to 30 days’imprisonment, or a fine up to 1,000 Saudi Riyals (about170 Sterling Pounds) or both.

In Riyadh (the capital city of Saudi Arabia) thereis very rapid development of industrialization. ThusRiyadh is a most challenging city in terms of tramsproblems and traffic road accidents. The sudden con-centration of population and wealth leads to rapidincrease in automobile ownership as portrayed inFigure 1. It produces traffic congestion, and high growthof tra~c accidents and fatalities are shown in Figure 1.Also the rapid growth in vehicle ownership suggeststhat a large mcrease in accidents will continue becauseof the availability of petrol at a cheaper price, and thenominal amount of tax in importing cars. Table 1 givesdents rates per 1,000 vehicles; casualities per 100~amc accidents, and fatality per 100 traffic accidentsin Riyadh and in Kuwait from 1974 to 1985. Fromavailable data and Table 1 we observe the following:

TABLE 1 : Accident, Injury and Fatality rates in Riyadh and Kuwait

n.a. Not available.

(a) Despite the enormous increase in the number ofregistered vehicles there is a decline in the rate ofaccidents in Riyadh. Note that the overall decreaseduring the period is 83.196, and the average annualdecrease is 14.7%.

(b) It can be seen that accident rates in Kuwait duringthe period 1974-85 is 100% greater than the corres-ponding rates in Riyadh.

(c) Casualty rates (per 100 traffic accidents) in Riyadhare more than three times than in Kuwait. Thus,it can be observed that between 1974 and 1985,Riyadh had lower accident rates but higher casu-alty rates than Kuwait.

(d) Fatality rates (per 100 traffic accidents) in Riyadhare more than twice that of Kuwait. It appears thatRiyadh has lower accident rates but higher casualtyand fatality rates than Kuwait.

In Riyadh, excessive speed (62.8%) is the main causeof road traffic accidents. Failure to obey traffic lights(18.8%) is the next contributor to road traffic accidents.Drugs and alcohol have an insignificant (0.2%) effectson road traffic accidents. This is not surprising to us,since under Islamic law, the sale and consumption ofalcohol is prohibited in Saudi Arabia.Types of road traffic accidents in Riyadh can be

summarized as follows: Riyadh has a very high percent-age of vehicles crashing 83%. The pedestrian accidentsrate is the next contributor 10.5%. This is followed byoverturning 5% and other causes 1.5%.

AGE OF DRIVERS AND ACCIDENTINVOLVEMENTMANY RESEARCHERS have looked into the relationshipsbetween socio-economic factors and accident involve-ment. Among these factors, age has been found to beone of the highest correlates of accident involvement,Forbes (1972), Norman (1983), Mcguire (1976), Benerand Elsayyad (1985). In this section we examine therelationships between age of drivers and accidentinvolvement in Riyadh.The minimum age for obtaining a driving licence is

18 years. Drivers aged between 31-40 were responsiblefor the highest number of road traffic accidents, about39% of the total, taking all age groups together. Driversbetween 41-50 are the next highest, being responsiblefor 28% of road traffic accidents during the period.The distribution of road traffic accidents in Riyadh

according to days of the week during the period 1974-85 was observed as follows:

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The highest proportion of accidents occurred onSaturday (15.44%), followed by Wednesday (14.95%).Also, the highest proportion of accidents occurred bymarried drivers (64.56%).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONSSTUDYING THE previous results of accidents and the twoFigures, one can state the following.1. Mostly the increased rate of the number of registered

vehicles is more than that of population for theperiod of 1974-85.

2. The number of accidents in 1985 are almost doublethe number in 1974. The same applies to the casual-ties and fatalities.

3. Accident rates per 1,000 vehicles has decreased from408.9 to 87.9 during 1974-85.

4. The rate of fatalities per 100 accidents fluctuate from3 in 1982 to 5.1 in 1977.

5. 62.3% of the accidents are due to excessive speed.6. 83% of the accidents are reported due to crashing.7. 31-40 age group are responsible for 39.07% of the

accidents.8. Each of the two age groups over 50 and (unlawful)

under 18 is responsible for about 4% of the accidents.9. There is a little increase in the percentage of the

number of accidents in the first day of the week(Saturday) and the last day of week (Wednesday).

10. Married drivers are responsible for 64.56% of theaccidents.

Note that item 10 must not lead to the conclusionthat unmarried persons are more careful in drivingthan the married. This percentage is due to some localcustoms and traditions that the majority of populationby age 22 (university graduation age in general) orover are married. Some brief recommendations arepresented as follows:1. Traffic safety education should be introduced in the

general education programmes.2. Mass media tools such as radio, television and daily

newspapers must remind the public to observe roadtraffic regulations.

3. Roads designers must take into account high stan-dard safety measures.

4. Fixing enough sign boards and instructions to roadusers are necessary.

5. Speed limits in various city road and suburbs mustbe introduced.

6. Data collection of traffic accidents must be givenevery care. I

We claim neither that our paper gives a comprehen-sive study not that our recommendations lead to acomplete solution of the traffic problem in Riyadh.Even so we believe that the paper forms a basis fordetailed study in the future.

REFERENCES ...............

ASOGWA, S. E. (1978). Road traffic accidents: A major public healthproblem in Nigeria. Public Health, London, 92, 237-245.BENER, A. and EL-SAYYAD, G. M. (1985). Epidemiology of motor vehicleaccidents in Jeddah. J. Royal Society of Health, 105, 200-201.BAYOUMI, A. (1981). The epidemiology of fatal motor vehicle accidentsin Kuwait. Accid. Anal. and Prev., 13, 339-348.COCHRANE, S. R., FERGUSON, J. D. and AL-MUFTI, M.A. (1986). Vehiclesgrowth trends in Singapore. Traffic Engineering and Control, 27, 122-124.EL-SAIF, A. (1973). An Approximation of the Knowledge of TrafficRegulations and Defensive Driving Among a Selected Sample of SaudiArabian Private Cars Owners. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Michigan StateUniversity.FORBES, T. W. (1972). Human Factors in Highway Traffic SafetyResearch. New York, Wiley.FRASER-MOODIE, A. (1976). Road traffic accidents. J. Royal College ofSurg. of Edinburgh, 21, 75.JACOBS, G. D. and SAYER, I. A. (1977). A study of road accidents inselected urban areas in developing countries. Department of theEnvironment TRRL Report SR 775, Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. JINADU, M. K. (1984). Epidemiology of motor vehicle accidents in adeveloping country: A case of Oyo state in Nigeria. J. Royal Society ofHealth, 104, 153-156.LAMM, R., CHOUEIRI, E. M. and KLOECKNER, J. H. (1985). Accidents inU.S. and Europe: 1970-80. Accid. Anal. and Prev., 17, 429-438.MACKAY, M. (1984). Vehicle characteristics, growth rates and crash per-formance. Transport Safety in Developing Countries. InternationalCentre for Transport Studies, Rome Italy.McGUIRE, F. L. (1976). Personality factors in highway accidents. HumanFactors, 18, 433-442.MEKKY, A. (1985) Effects of rapid increase in motornisation levels onroad fatality rates in rich developing countries. Accid. Anal. and Prev.,17, 101-109.MUFTI, M. H. (1983). Road traffic accidents as a public health problemin Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inter. Assoc. for Accid. and Traffic Medicine, 2,65-69.MUFTI, M. H., KOUSHKI, P. and ALI, J. A. (1986). Road traffic accidentsmortality in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Annals of Saudi Medicine, 6, 263-264.NORMAN, L. C. (1973). Road Traffic Accidents—Epidemiology, Controland Prevention. In Public Health Papers, W.H.O. No. 12.SAID, G. M. and JADAAN, K. S. (1985). Simple approaches for improvingtraffic operations in Kuwait Ring Roads. Traffic Engineering and Control,26, 379-384.SCHRAM, R. (1970). Epidemiology of road traffic accidents in Africa. Inter.Epid. Assoc. Conf. on Epidemiology in Africa Ibadan.

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