Slowing down and wearing seat belts can help to reduce the growing number of accidents and fatalities on the Kingdom's roads. This is the message from members of the National Petrochemical Industrial Company (NATPET) and the Safra Defensive Driving Academy, who signed an agreement earlier this week to help promote road safety. Hamed Khalil, vice president, Marketing and Sales of NATPET, said: “In spite of all the measures taken by the government to build new and wider highways, install monitoring systems, and take all necessary life-saving measures, road accidents are still on the rise compared to many other countries.” “Official studies have shown that road accidents are the leading cause of death in Saudi Arabia, with an average of one death and four injuries every hour. The statement released by the Council of Ministers makes it mandatory to use seat belts and baby car seats, which will significantly contribute to reducing road accidents,” he said. Khalil said seat belts are designed to protect passengers from hitting the dashboard or being propelled out of the vehicle through the windshield on sudden impact.” He said another study has shown that front-seat passenger mortality can be reduced by nearly 80 percent if back seat passengers also wear seat belts. This prevents back-seat passengers from crashing into front-seat passengers. Wearing seat-belts also decreases the percentage of mortality during accidents by 50 percent for passengers in the front seats and 60 percent for passengers in the back seats. “Our country is witnessing an alarming increase in accidents and deaths, whereas many other countries have successfully curbed their accident rates. Adults who do not wear their seat belts are sending the message to their children, that seat belts are unnecessary,” said Khalil.
