This is Why the Number of Traffic Accidents in Saudi Arabia is Decreasing
Saudi Arabia has the highest road accident death toll in the world. There might be a number of factors that contributed to the increase in the number of road traffic accidents. To figure out what those factors might be, I studied the data that is relevant to the issue. I expected to find trends between the number of driving licenses and the number of traffic accidents per region. Investigating the data, I found a couple of questionable drops and peaks in both the number of driving licenses issued and the number of traffic accidents. My main observations were as follows: a) a decrease in the number of accidents in 2017, b) an unusual significant drop in the number of driving licenses issued in one of the years. After analyzing the data, I expected to justify the above observations.
Datasets Description
Driving Licenses This dataset contains Saudi Arabia Driving Licenses Issued By Administrative Area for 1993–2016. Data from General Authority for Statistics .
Traffic Accidents and Casualties This dataset contains Saudi Arabia Traffic Accidents and Casualties by Region for 2016. Data from General Authority for Statistics.
In the figure above, we notice there is a significant drop in the number of driving licenses issued in the year 2015. After researching the case, I found out that in 2014 Uber has been launched in Riyadh and Eastern province in 2015. Associating Uber launch might be the case of the decrease in the number of driving licenses issued in that year. Adults who did not own driving licenses used Uber for running their errands.
The regions with the highest average number of accidents reported and driving licenses issued in 2016–2017 are Riyadh, Eastern Province, and Makkah.
We can see that there is a correlation (positive relationship) between the number of accidents reported and the number of driving licenses issued. The number of traffic accidents increases with the increase in the number of driving licenses issued. We also notice that Makkah, Riyadh, and Eastern Province are higher than the rest of the regions .
The plots above can tell us that the number of driving licenses issued in 2017 dramatically increased while the number of accidents did not increase dramatically accordingly. Taking the number of accidents per year and dividing it by the number of driving licenses per year, I found that in 2016 the number of accidents increased by 78% in regard to the number of driving licenses issued. Whereas in 2017, it increased only by 42%. This means that the number of traffic accidents in comparison to the number of driving licenses issued dropped by almost 36%.
According to the sample we have, we observe there is a positive relationship between the number of driving licenses issued and the number of traffic accidents reported. Although, in 2017, we notice that there is a gap between the number of driving licenses issued and traffic accidents reported. There is a decrease in the number of traffic accidents that is not caused by the number of driving licenses issued. Fuel prices can affect the number of road traffic accidents (Dahim, 2018). Dahim suggests there is a negative relationship between fuel prices and road traffic accidents. The increase in fuel prices may also decrease the amount of driving time and distance, therefore making the driver drive in a safer way and in a high fuel-efficient way. This also increases the use of public transportation which reduces the number of traffic accidents. As part of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia increased its Fuel prices in 2017. we can conclude that this change may contribute to the decrease in the number of traffic accidents in 2017 that is not related to the number of driving licenses.
As stated by Saudi Gazzete, new traffic laws with penalties for violations in Saudi Arabia were implemented in October 2016 and came into force after two weeks. The penalties for different violations were tough, the violator should pay a big amount of money and some of them even include jail. This might have also contributed to the decrease in road traffic accidents that was in the year 2017 as the rules were implemented at the end of 2016.
Noticing the positive relationship between the number of driving licenses issued and traffic accidents tells us something. There could be something wrong with the procedure of issuing a driving license. Saudi Arabia gives immediate tests for getting a driving license. According to Arab News, Upon 2017, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Bassami, The director general of Traffic Department, announced the cancelation of the immediate test for a driving license, emphasizing that those who wish to obtain licenses must attend driving training courses for a total of 90-hour training course, and 30-hour training course for skilled drivers. This can also be the case for the gap between the number of driving licenses issued and the number of traffic accidents reported. In other words, this might be the cause of the decrease in traffic accidents in 2017.
My key takeaways:
- Riyadh, Eastern Province, and Makkah have the highest traffic accidents and driving licenses issued.
- There is a positive relationship between the number of driving licenses issued and the number of accidents.
- The drop in the number of driving licenses issued in 2015 is caused by the launch of Uber in Saudi Arabia.
The number of traffic accidents in comparison to the number of driving licenses issued in 2017 dropped by almost 36% compared to 2016. The followings might be the causes:
- The gap between the number of driving licenses and traffic accidents might have been caused by the increase in fuel prices to support 2030 vision as it decreased the number of traffic accidents.
- The gap between the number of driving licenses and traffic accidents might have been caused by canceling the immediate driving license test as it decreased the number of traffic accidents.
- The decrease in the number of traffic accidents might have been caused by the implementation of new traffic laws followed by penalties for violations.
References:
- Arab News. “No Immediate Driving Licenses in Saudi Arabia … All Must Attend Courses.” Arab News, Arabnews, 13 Nov. 2017, www.arabnews.com/node/1193081/saudi-arabia.
- Berkani, Karima. “Celebrating Two Years in Saudi Arabia: Uber Newsroom Saudi Arabia.” Uber Newsroom, 1 Feb. 2016, www.uber.com/en-SA/newsroom/ksa2/.
- Dahim, Mohammed A.H. “Impact of Vision 2030 on Traffic Safety in Saudi Arabia.” International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Elsevier, 7 Sept. 2018, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352646718300553?via=ihub.
- General Authority for Statistics, www.stats.gov.sa/en.
- “New Traffic Laws in 15 Days.” Saudigazette, NEWSPAPER_NAME, 3 Oct. 2016, live.saudigazette.com.sa/article/164574/New-traffic-laws-in-15-days.
- “Your Uber Has Just Arrived, Dammam!” Uber Blog, 21 Feb. 2020, www.uber.com/en-SA/blog/your-uber-has-just-arrived-bahrain-2/.
