Road crashes claim 199 lives in Kuwait in nine months

Cairo: Traffic accidents in Kuwait, a country of 4.9 million people, resulted in 199 deaths in the first nine months of the current year, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has said as the country is set to introduce a tougher traffic law.

The ministry urged motorists to abide by speed limits, fastening the belt and shun the use of the mobile phone behind the wheel. More than 44,000 traffic violations were recorded in Kuwait last week when police also handled a total of 1,589 accidents, according to Al Anba newspaper.

Traffic authorities in Kuwait said this week they started operating smart cameras to automatically monitor violations of road rules.The 252 artificial intelligence-operated cameras aim to monitor seat belt and mobile phone violations, Assistant Director of the Traffic Awareness Department Lt. Col Abdullah Abu Al Hassan said.
“These cameras work to calculate the distance from one point to another. So, any speed violation is monitored even if the driver tries to slow down when reaching the camera,” the official told Kuwaiti news TV Al Akhbar.
He added that reckless behaviour is blamed for around 92 per cent of traffic accidents that lead to death or injury, explaining that drivers involved are often distracted by chat on the phone, reading, or other activities while at the wheel.

Kuwait is set to adopt a new traffic law that will impose hefty fines to curb reckless driving and enhance road safety. The current traffic law has been in effect since 1976.

Under the draft law, which is yet to be ratified, expatriates will only be allowed to own one car.Officials have repeatedly emphasised that the new law is necessary to reduce serious violations, as traffic accidents are the second leading cause of death in Kuwait after heart disease.