Driving Safety to Improve in Kuwait
I used to read a lot of science fiction. I can’t always remember the stories, but sometimes the concepts stick with me. I remember one story about a guy who gets to the future to discover nobody is as bright as they are in our time. One of the things they do to prevent the not-so-bright drivers from hurting themselves is to make the cars very rubbery and very slow, but the cars all make whoooooshing noises like they are going really really fast, so all the drivers are happy.
Kuwait loses a lot of young men, particularly, but also young women, to car accidents. Many pedestrians in Kuwait lose their lives, some stepping right in front of cars.
From today’s Arab Times: Kuwait
Strategy needed to counter hike in Kuwait’s road accidents: minister
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 11: Making our roads safer is in the interest of the nation’s progress as most of the deaths in traffic accidents involve youngsters and children, who are the future of our nation, said Kuwait’s Minister of Interior Sheikh Jaber Khaled Al-Sabah on behalf of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah at the International Conference on Traffic in Kuwait Sunday.
The conference, held under the patronage of the prime minister at Holiday Inn Hotel, was organized by Kuwait Society for Traffic Safety, and was attended by delegates from the US, Turkey, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries. Some of them also gave lectures. The Deputy Minister of Interior of Ukraine, Brigadier Oleksandr Savchenko, was a special guest at the conference.
The interior minister stressed the need for strategies to tackle the crisis of increasing road accidents in Kuwait based on the experiences of countries that have successfully handled the issue. “The lessons learnt from the conference must be implemented in Kuwait and all the government departments must cooperate with one another for bringing about positive changes in this direction.”
He also urged people from all walks of life to contribute to make roads safer “as it is the responsibility of the whole community.”
In the key note address, the chief of Kuwait Society for Traffic Safety said that road accidents in Kuwait have taken away more than 300,000 lives in the past, and caused severe disabilities. “The average age of those dying in accidents is 20. Between 1995 and 2008, more than 5000 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Kuwait.”
Giving further statistics, he noted that 2.5 percent of Kuwait’s GDP is lost in accidents, “while in countries like the US it is only 0.1 percent of their GDP.
“According to WHO’s report, there are over 2 million accidents taking place every year, incurring losses to the tune of $2 billion.
“Kuwait Society for Traffic Safety will be soon launching a five-year program in Jan 2010 to bring about a change in the attitudes of people towards driving.”
Prof Fernand Cohen of Drexel University, USA, was the first speaker at the conference. He spoke on the topic, “How much can technological advancement increase traffic safety?”
He began by saying that the issue of traffic safety begins with man’s attitude. “To change traffic safety, we have to address that issue first.”
Prof Cohen said that technological advancement can reduce traffic accidents by up to 32 percent. He based his arguments on reliable studies in the field. “When you compare this percentage against the total number of accidents in the US every year, 5.8 million, it makes a significant difference.
“Basic safety features like seat belts and airbags have all become a standard feature in our cars, and have contributed to making our cars safer. But we have to go beyond that.”
Estimate
The professor mentioned studies estimate that deaths due to traffic accidents in the US will go down to 25,000 by 2020. “In 2004, the total number of road kills in the US was 43,000.
“We are moving more and more towards hybrid navigation system in car involving man-machine interaction. The car will make up for the shortfalls in the driver.
The professor said that the new technological approach to making roads safer must have a preventive rather than a punitive approach. “The focus should be crash avoidance technology. There should also be ‘Psychological Impact Technology.’
The emerging technologies, he noted, “looks at solutions such as a visual or audio alert signal for corrective action to avoid an imminent crash. There could be measures to make the car intervene and apply brakes when needed.”
Under crash avoidance technology, the professor presented technologies such as blind-spot detection, which provide greater visibility to drivers. “Rear view cameras can eliminate threat to pedestrians, children or animals while a car is backing.
“Lane Departure Warning can tell you if you are too fast to change lanes. It can prevent you from wandering out of lane.
Monitors
“The Wake-You-Up feature monitors a driver’s eyes, heart rate and other factors and gives a signal if the driver shows a tendency to fall asleep.”
He also touched upon other technologies such as sensors to indicate approaching vehicles, monitors to check tyre pressure, adaptive headlights that turn when the car is negotiating a curve and rollover prevention systems among others.
The professor then discussed technologies that can be incorporated on the road to make driving safer: warning signs prior to the red lights to warn cars to slow down; sensors at red lights to measure the speed of an oncoming car and prolong the duration of the signal if need be to allow a speeding car to pass; and encouraging drivers to drive at a particular speed, which would allow them to have green lights at every signal.
Some of the other topics handled during the conference were: The Lebanese Experience in Traffic Awareness; State of Road Safety Research in the US; Traffic Strategy for Kuwait.
By Valiya S. Sajjad
Arab Times Staff
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This is a topic we’ve all discussed before but well worth frequent updates to keep it fresh in our minds.
Problem 1: Most drivers in Kuwait don’t use the basic safety equipment already available. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a family vehicle where the kids weren’t standing and “running free” instead of seated and buckled – much less in a car seat. Families driving a $50-$60K Lexus but won’t use a $50 car seat to protect the safety and lives of their own children…I’ll NEVER understand that …
Problem 2: Lack of meaningful penalties (like those adopted by Qatar recently) that aren’t dismissed with a phone call to “friends”.
Problem 3: Lack of safety standards for vehicles – vechicles with broken, inoperative or tail lights so dirty you can’t see them at night until struck from behind or drivers who drive at night with their lights off because THEY can see the road fine due to the street lights (but the drivers in front of them may not see them in the rear view mirror as they make a lane change).
Problem 4: Understaffed traffic enforcement. I don’t know what the patrol car to square mile or patrol car to privately owned vehicles is in Kuwait but about the only time I see a patrol car is at the scene of an accident.
Problem 4: Lack of driving standards and enforcement – mandatory lane usage on the main roads (slow drivers in the right most lane, not the center lane because it’s “inconvenient” to change lanes and on/off ramps).
Problem 5: Bad road design – WHO builds a u-turn in the middle of a three-lane divided highway? Especially one across from an T-intersection exit that means 60-foot water trucks are going to use to cross three lanes of oncoming traffic to get to? Who builds three lane high ways allowing speeds of 120KPH and has T-intersection exits in the first place?
Even if one could correct the problems, how do you change the attitude of an entire country where people drive through fences along the 30 and 40 because it’s “inconvenient” to drive to a real exit; people who leave the right hand lane to race around three cars to the outside lane and then do a three-lane cross to take the exit they were only 200m from in the first place because they didn’t want to slow down; people who leave the road and drive through the right of way’s beside the roads to by-pass the traffic log at the exit ramp; drivers who pull into the 2nd, and even 3rd lanes outside then race the turning green light to take the exit ramp under the underpass because they didn’t want to be the SECOND car in line; drivers who pull up to an exit ramp in the right hand lane and then STOP and force their way into the traffic stopped on the ramp; drivers who STOP in the right hand lane of next to a yellow/black curb to walk into Starbucks or the ATM when the parking lot in front of the building is EMPTY (or in a round-a-bout to chat with their friends or in the right hand lane of a two lane street to go shopping or….because they’d have to walk 50ft to the parking lot.)
Make driving safer in Kuwait? Somebody has their work cut out for them.
And that’s my rant for the evening!
LLLOOOOLLLL, thank you, BitJockey. I’d forgotten some of those things.
Here’s what happened in Qatar the other night – I’ve never seen this in Kuwait. We were heading into a circle, and it wasn’t moving fast enough for one guy who gets up on and over the median, drives to the circle in the empty (ONCOMING) lanes and enters the circle as if he had every right in the world . . .
Its a tough job to change the attitude of an entire nation. Take this scenario, on my way to work everyday I can see people driving on the sidewalk(yes sidewalk) and on the emergency lanes so that they can save a few minutes and many a time the drivers are women and military personnel!
Plus.. the number of rude drivers are increasing day by day, its not uncommon to get cut off or forced off the road by a woman covered in black from head to toe. I know coz I’ve been thru it many times 😦
Yeah it sucks to be a driver in Kuwait if you’re not driving a Yukon or a Tahoe or some other oversized gas guzzling American SUV
pls excuse the long comment, just had to get that off my chest 🙂
3.Technology does offer hope to control the traffic problems . like i said once before , cars have been left to the control of the humans far too long .
Take the problem of speeding where does it come from ?
A) Driver which is an unpredictable human being
B) Engine which is powerful and dumb at the same time
C) Control of the two A+B which is lacking .
Now technology is available to eliminate the scourge of over speeding in all the roads in urban areas by using the existing cell phone towers all around us .
cars will be provided with a limiting chip that is in contact with the controlling system through the mobile towers and once the driver over speeds he (She) will get a message on the dashboard saying slow down now or the limiting chip is triggered and the car is speed is limited to whatever is indicated on the GPS (navigator ) map.
Any violation and the fine is sent to the driver or to dad or Mom instantly via SMS , the message starts with a friendly Greetings from your moroor (Traffic – DMV) department You have been fined KD 20 for your violation of over speeding , Have a good day.
Also cars should have different driver moods , say if you get behind the wheel and you feel stupid then you push the stupid button and the car’s driving characteristics will be set to take care of the lapses that you may make or if you feel happy then you push happy mood button so your car behaves accordingly or if you feel aggressive then you push the AGGRESSIVE MODE the car will limit your speeding and your zigzaging abilities and hardens your brakes and at the end of a hardworking day you push the Take Me Home button and you doze off in your seat to the sound of your favorite music while your car sends another SMS to your microwave to reheat yesterdays pot roast for dinner .
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD Morning Intlxpatr ,
Mathai, it is an emotional issue. I get passionate about it because 1) drivers who are careless, reckless, negligent and/or arrogant put MY life at risk, and I am selfish about that and 2) I hate waste, and everytime I see a bad wreck by the side of the road I pray for the souls of the occupants. It breaks my heart that they won’t live to see another birthday. So long comments on this are appropriate.
Daggero – LLOOLL – I totally love your logic and your suggestions, especially the buttons, what a total hoot!
Natural selection.
“Driving Safety” in Kuwait IS science fiction BTW…
I look at the obituary section in the Arab Times every day. I always wonder how many deaths they are NOT reporting. I then take note of the ages and genders of the people who have died. Almost every day, there is a notification of a young man between 19 and 25. It is inevitable that these deaths can be attributed to traffic-related fatalities.
If so many Kuwaiti citizens have lost their (mostly) sons to traffic accidents, wouldn’t those same parents be out there – somehow – lobbying for better traffic laws? Wouldn’t they want to? I know in other countries, parents would want to make it better for other families in the community; having experienced the loss of their own child. Where is the anger at what is happening here? Most of these accidents are SO preventable.
I feel the same way, Desert Girl, and I have cynically thought the same thing about natural selection, except it seems to me so suicidal, so wasteful. Something is terribly wrong when there is no outrage against this loss of young lives, only acceptance. The families must be devastated, but I’ve been told that to grieve too openly is like questioning the will of God, and is considered “Ayb.” If I lost my son, I think that loss would echo through my life for the rest of my days. I don’t think a single day would go by without me grieving, grieving, grieving.
Driver education? Enforcement of the laws? There isn’t even any serious effort to enforce seat belts or baby seats. It is SO depressing to me that so many lives are lost so needlessly.