MENA's dangerous roads

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO), published at the end of 2009, the Eastern Mediterranean (including the Middle East) and Africa regions have the highest rates of road traffic injury and fatality in the world, at 32.2 deaths per 100,000 population. While this statistic may not be surprising in conjunction with the under developed nations of sub-Saharan Africa, it seems more shocking to think of the emerging economies of the Gulf in this respect. But consider this. At the height of its boom, the Gulf’s construction industry operated largely with a “build it and they will come” approach. And certainly, as residential, office and commercial developments shot up across the region, the expatriate business community flocked in and the population bulged. Likewise, in neighbouring Arabic states, factors such as oil wealth or tourism helped to draw in visitors. And on top that, national populations have been, will continue to be, growing.

“the World Bank and the other multi-national development banks that play a huge role in funding road infrastructure projects have started to put together a central facility to look at road safety.”

And with a bigger population comes the need for more advanced infrastructure, better utilities, better amenities, better transport systems. Today, though the buildings are plentiful, many other aspects of the infrastructure are playing catch up. Avi Silverman, of the FIA Foundation helps shed some light on the issue. "Really it's not a phenomenon that's just limited to the Middle East," he explains. "It is something that lots of countries of low and middle income status experience, which is there's a high rate of development going on obviously and a high rate of motorisation occurring, which is resulting in many more deaths and injuries."

Indeed, this increase in development and motorisation is perhaps for an aggravating factor than previously accounted for. While stereotypically poor standards in road safety are found in, as Silverman says, low and middle income countries, the wealth of the GCC nations makes these statistics a little more shocking. While the GCC alone is not responsible for that record regional average, and in fact their figures fall below the 32.2 value, the individual rates recorded from each state are still alarmingly high for countries of such wealth and resources.

 According the WHO statistics, in 2007 Saudi Arabia has reported 25.7 road traffic fatalities per 100,000 of the population; the UAE recorded 24.1 per 100,000; Qatar, 23.6 per 100,000 and Oman a shocking 30.6 per 100,000. Bahrain has the lowest rate of all GCC sates with 12.1 per 100,000. To put those figures into perspective then, in the same year Canada reported 8.7 fatalities per 100,000; the UK 5.4 per 100,000 and the Netherlands just 4.8 per 100,000. Romania, a developing 'middle income' country with a per capita income of US$6150, about a sixth of the per capita income of the UAE and less than a tenth of that of Qatar, reported 12.6 road fatalities per 100,000 population, around half of those two affluent MENA nations.

So just why are serious road traffic injuries so rife in this region? Undoubtedly the boom in construction has had an affect, and recent years has seen a noticeable increase in the movement of traffic in and around the GCC, but should that really account for such a high rate in countries that boast wealthy governments, educated populations, and quality healthcare systems?

"It isn't just the increase in the rate of motorisation," explains Silverman. "It's that alongside that you're not having proper, coherent and integrated planning in terms of road safety, to mitigate the numbers of deaths and injuries as the rates of motorisation increase. So the safety measures that are almost taken for granted in countries in Western Europe in particular, are just not there at the levels that they're needed [in the Middle East], and the investment in road safety just isn't there at the level that's needed either."

He suggests that in order to improve the situation in the region, road safety must also become a consideration at all levels, right from the initial processes of the road infrastructure development, through to actual road travel.  "Improving the safety provisions that are made in the building of new roads; improving the usage of seat belts; improving the safety of vehicles with measures such as airbags, ABS, new anti-collision technologies being put into vehicles; campaigns that are put in place to increase the level of helmet wearing for most of bikes and cyclists.  All these measures - including education and public campaigns and legislation for road safety - are taken together as the approach [to improve road safety]. These are the measures that are needed and that are being implemented with great effect particularly in Western Europe but aren't being implemented at nearly the level that's needed in countries in the Middle East and North Africa."

A key element in the campaign for road safety, explains Silverman, and one that is frequently overlooked, is the condition of the roads themselves. "We've actually focused quite a lot on road infrastructure because it has been something of a neglected area, and the contribution that it makes to road safety needs to be emphasised a lot more than it has been. What we at the FIA Foundation are saying is that again, it's very simple countermeasures that need to be implemented during road infrastructure building projects.  When a road is initially built there needs to be proper provision for pavements for pedestrians and crossing points for pedestrians, provisions to separate vulnerable road users, such as cyclists, pedestrians, children or people who are using two and three wheel vehicles, from the much bigger, faster moving vehicles on the road. 

"There need to be proper crossing points near schools. There needs to be use of roundabouts in ways to slow the traffic down at critical points, proper runoffs as well. Also clear marking for traffic and clear use of safety barriers at critical points as well. All these measures are well known in road engineering but often they don't get implemented where they're needed, particularly in developing countries."

And certainly measures are beginning to be taken across the region to combat this issue. In Bahrain plans have recently been confirmed to install a network of traffic surveillance cameras across the island; Qatar is establishing a new research centre in conjunction with the Texas Transportation Institute in an effort to improve road safety; and the UAE reported a 21 percent drop in road traffic fatalities fort eh first half of 2010 compared with the same period the previous years. However there is still some way to go. "Lack of funding is a huge problem," explains Silverman, revealing that the reports from the Commission for Global Road Safety are recommending that a portion of road infrastructure project funding be set aside for safety measure. "We have been campaigning for 10 percent. You very rarely get that level of funding put aside for safety measures. Normally it's somewhere in the region of one percent or lower, and often it's not actually to implement safety measures on the road itself; just a kind of token project but nothing that is actually in a systematic way going to ensure that there are correct safety measures on the roads."

Silverman suggests that this can problem can be turned around with a little help from investors. "This issue is starting to be addressed," he reveals, "and the World Bank and the other multi-national development banks that play a huge role in funding road infrastructure projects have started to put together a central facility to look at road safety and have started to devote some funding to road safety. That's to be welcomed and it needs now to be built upon and increased."

Still, there does seem to be some positive outlook for the future. Silverman explains that beginning next year a "Decade of Action" for the campaign to make the roads of the world safer will take place, during which international organisations such as FIA Foundation will be looking to establish a detailed global programme to improve the quality of road safety with an aim to reducing the number of lives that are lost on the roads every year. "Obviously, the Middle East is a region that really does have a very worrying projection in terms of the numbers of deaths and injuries that are likely to take place over the next decade,  and therefore obviously has a huge part to play in [the Decade of Action] and we want to see Middle East North Africa region play a leading role in the Decade of Action and for road safety programmes to emerge across all countries in the region so that they, too can have proper targeted programmes to save lives and prevent injuries on their roads."