The National Strategic Plan for Traffic Safety in Saudi Arabia estimated the cost of traffic accidents and road fatalities in the country at SR20,196,912,833, which reflects the physical and psychological damage. A study conducted by researcher Hassan Mohammed using the ability-to-pay method estimated the costs of managing traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia for 2013 at SR41,901,122,606. According to what Abdul Hamid Al-Moajil, a traffic safety specialist, told Al Arabiya.net, the cost of accidents in Saudi Arabia, based on the estimates of this study, amounted to approximately SR54.9 billion, representing 4.3% of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product for 2013. He said: “Traffic safety, in its broad sense, aims to adopt all plans, programs, traffic regulations and preventive measures to reduce or prevent traffic accidents, to ensure the safety of people and their property and to preserve the security of the country and its human and economic components.” There are three axes of traffic safety: vehicle, road, and the human element. Achieving traffic safety requires sound strategic planning, allocating the necessary budgets, good governance, and awareness from community members. Al-Moajjel stressed in his speech that the cost of traffic accidents, serious injuries and deaths negatively affected the national economy. The costs of […]