One paper says "Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest road accident rates." The other paper says "...road deaths are down by 50 percent." Choice. It is all about choice in deciding which article you want to believe. No matter. Still plenty of PCRC. Nothing is going to change that, either. Authorities can go ahead and pat themselves on the back and say that they are doing everything they can. Everyone, here, knows that that is not the case. Not with statistics like this:
"Last year 458,931 accidents took place... killing 6,458 people and injuring 36,486. Speeding and disregard for safety regulations were cited as the main causes of accidents..." Gee. 'Ya think? "A study from the Ministry of Health estimates that the average vehicular collision that involves fatal or non-fatal injuries results in SR100,000 to SR120,000 [$26,809.65 and $32,171.58, respectively] in medical expenses... the annual cost of road accidents is estimated at about SR26 billion [6,970,509,383.37], which is equal to four percent of the country's gross domestic product." [Emphasis, mine.] "...about one-third of beds in government hospitals are occupied by accident victims. About 45 percent of accidents are caused by speeding..." Job security for ex-pat medical professionals from all over the world. The Sandbox has been "singled out by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the record holder of the highest death toll due to traffic accidents with over 49 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants." Hey. Every country has to be "best" at something, right?
Sadly, yesterday morning, a man [women don't drive here] "took the lives of two Indian electricians." The two young men were killed on their way to a construction site - one of them, Rajesh, was only 28. The other, Ullas was 32. Both were married and one of them has a one-year-old baby. "Police are asking any possible eyewitnesses to come forward to assist in apprehending the driver of the other vehicle who fled the scene of the accident." Umm hmm. I think we all know that these were just two imported workers. Plenty more available where these two came from. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
More PCRC: A 30-car pile-up happened on Thursday - because of fog - and because men in this country refuse to slow down and refuse to follow traffic regulations. No one died, but "12 persons of various nationalities suffered injuries in the multiple collisions, some described as serious." See? Like I said. Job security for the various medical ex-pat professionals.
Nothing will change here until authorities get serious about the situation. Until then? Traffic accidents, galore. "Population control road carnage." That is just the way it is.
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