Seventeen percent fatality from traffic accidents in 2008 [Archives:2009/1221/Local News]

By: Yemen Times Staff
SANA'A, Dec. 31 – The likelihood of being killed in a car accident reached 17 percent in 2008, while the registered causalities from traffic accidents around Yemen totaled 2,833 deaths while more than twenty thousand were injured. This is a 23 percent increase from last year.

These numbers resulted from 16,362 reported traffic accidents. These numbers also mean that the certainty of being injured in a car accident is 100 percent. Official reports from the General Traffic Administration stated that this is a result of driving recklessly without wearing seatbelts in addition to talking on mobile phone and even texting while driving. The administration also blamed long distance drivers for chewing Qat while driving for long hours.

Medical reports reveled that although Qat is used as a mental stimulant, it does not guarantee quick reflexes when the rest of the body is tired.

The number of car accidents peak between three and nine in the evening, which is when most people are chewing Qat.

The majority of the causalities are caused by car accidents, followed by pedestrians being hit by speeding vehicles. A quarter of the pedestrian deaths were children less than 15 years old.

More over, the Eid holidays always witness an increase in the number of traffic accidents. Eighty eight people were reported dead in less than ten days because of traffic incidents during the recent Eid holidays in December, compared to 78 deaths last year for the same period.

The increase in car accidents and causalities during the Eid holidays is explained by the extensive traveling that takes place during that time, as many Yemenis living in the main cities travel to their home towns in other governorates.
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