ABHA – About 150 traffic accidents claimed the lives of 60 people over 30 months on the mountain roads of the south of the Kingdom. More than 343 people were injured, according to the latest statistics registered by the traffic field teams on seven mountain passes including Dhil', Al-Samma, Al-Shurfah, Tala', Sinan, Radoum and Shi'aar, Al-Sharq Arabic daily reported. Death trips are carried out daily by thousands of Saudi nationals and expatriates of the south to reach their work destinations. There are some who go out without returning. There are others who return with injuries that might be serious. Others escape unhurt. It is a shocking reality that has not found a solution to relieve road users from its evil. Al-Sharq re-opens the subject of mountain roads, which road users are still complaining about, have been built and designed in a poor way. They lack a dual carriageway and repair works are late. Meanwhile, the region's Traffic Department attributes the many accidents on the mountain roads to speeding, wrong overtaking, vehicles leaving their lane and the heavy traffic. The problem is still pending. ‘A necessary evil' Muhammad Asiri described the mountain roads in Asir region as a necessary evil due to the topography of the region. He said Dhil' mountain road, specifically, has caused him to lose many relatives and colleagues. Not a single day passes without a traffic accident taking place on its dangerous curves. He added that some motorists do not care about their lives or the lives of the other mountain road users. They drive their cars at a high speed and do not abide by the speed limits. They do not follow the signboards that show the speed limits. Asiri confirmed that the danger of mountain roads lies in their curves, which he described as deadly, especially on rainy days causing vehicles to skid. He further said that mountain roads should have dual carriageways. Also, there ought to be centers for the Red Crescent and the Civil Defense. People should not rely only on the seasonal centers so as to shorten the distance and time for reaching the accident scene.
‘A death trip' Abeer Al-Alkami, a female teacher in one of the schools in the remote areas, said mountain roads are still claiming lives year after year without anyone dealing with the problem. She said she lost some of her colleagues in accidents on these mountain roads while travelling to their remote schools. She expressed concern about the poor design of these mountain roads. She said among the features of the poor design are the steep slopes and narrow roads. She called for construction of dual carriageways. She also said the curves are dangerous. Al-Alkami said she and her colleagues consider the daily trip to and from school as a death trip, as the road has claimed many lives. She added that the mountain roads can no longer accommodate the heavy traffic. Matters get worse during rainy seasons due to the fog. There is heavy traffic in both directions. Any accident causes traffic jams for several kilometers. The traffic jams also prevent ambulances and Civil Defense vehicles from reaching the accident scene, and at times, it becomes impossible to save lives. ‘Time bombs' Saeed Asiri said some of the mountain roads are like time bombs. After rainfall, there are rock slides blocking them. There are times when the rocks fall directly on the vehicles or cause them to swerve from their lanes. The most dangerous accidents occur for big trucks and buses that cannot be stopped by the concrete barriers. In conclusion, spokesman of Asir Traffic Department Lt. Col.Muhammad Saeed Al-Asiri said the number of traffic accidents witnessed by Asir mountain roads during the period of 2011-2013 was 147. The number of injured persons in these accidents reached 343, while the number of deaths reached 60. He said the main cause of traffic accidents is speeding, especially on mountain roads that pass through difficult topography including slopes and curves. He said there are other reasons as well for traffic accidents. They include wrong overtaking, the vehicle swerving from its lane due to a defect in the brakes, losing control of the vehicle and the large number of vehicles, especially during the winter and the recurrent weekly trip by the majority of people in the region. Al-Asiri said Asir Traffic Department has referred specialist reports on the situation of Dhil' and Shi'aar mountain roads to the authorities concerned. The Department demanded that a dual carriageway ought to be built. He said the request has received support from the Emir of Asir region, who said priority should be given to these roads from the Ministry of Transport.
