• Traffic on the King Fahd highway, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The National
    Traffic on the King Fahd highway, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The National
  • Speed limits have been cut on some roads in the UAE to bolster safety.
    Speed limits have been cut on some roads in the UAE to bolster safety.
  • Heavy traffic in Lebanon's capital city of Beirut. EPA
    Heavy traffic in Lebanon's capital city of Beirut. EPA
  • Omani police inspect the site of a collision between a lorry and a bus in western Oman in 2016 in which 18 people were killed. AFP
    Omani police inspect the site of a collision between a lorry and a bus in western Oman in 2016 in which 18 people were killed. AFP

Why the Middle East is trailing in the fight against road deaths


  • English
  • Arabic

Every year, about 1.35 million people die from road traffic injuries, the World Health Organisation has said.

A further 50 million people worldwide are hurt or disabled by such injuries, placing the issue of road safety high on the UN agenda.

However, much of the world has fallen short of a target to halve the number of road deaths and injuries by 2020.

People aged 15 to 29 were found to have the greatest chance of dying in a road crash. Traffic injuries are currently thought to be the eighth leading cause of death across the world. This is predicted to climb to seventh by 2030.

But how does the Middle East compare when it comes to keeping people safe on the roads?

Anyone can get a driver's licence without even taking the driver's test. All one would have to do is 'grease the wheel' a little bit
Tammam Nakkash,
road safety campaigner, Lebanon

Dave Cliff, chief executive of the Global Road Safety Partnership at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told The National there is a problem in the region of "significant underreporting" of accidents and deaths.

“Underreporting of fatal and serious-injury crashes is a major global problem, particularly in low and middle-income countries," he said.

“GRSP highlighted this exact issue to the recent UN high-level meeting on road safety."

He suggested that lower traffic volumes in many countries as a result of Covid-19 restrictions could also have had an effect.

The next WHO global status report is due in 2023.

UAE

Despite increasing levels of traffic, road deaths in the UAE have almost halved since 2014 due to a series of safety measures and regulations.

In 2014, 712 deaths were recorded in road traffic accidents by the Ministry of Interior. This fell to 675 in 2015, 448 in 2019 and 381 last year.

Government figures show that road deaths have fallen by two thirds since 2008, when 1,072 were reported.

But despite the drop in the number of recorded UAE road deaths, WHO figures suggest considerably more people could have lost their lives in these circumstances.

In 2015, the WHO estimated there were 1,676 road deaths compared with 870 in 2019 — about double the 448 figure recorded in the Emirates.

The WHO estimates road traffic deaths by assessing a range of national variables.

They include gross domestic product, total vehicles for every 1,000 people, the number of roads, national speed limits, access to health care, the working population, percentage of motorbikes, corruption and national policies for walking and cycling.

Saudi Arabia

The number of people killed as a result of road traffic crashes in Saudi Arabia has more than doubled in a decade to 27.4 for every 100,000 people.

The country aims to reduce the number of road traffic deaths to fewer than 10 for every 100,000 people by 2030.

In 2015, the WHO reported 8,313 road deaths but that number leapt to 12,317 in 2019 — the most recent annual data set.

Road safety strategies include a penalty point system and ensuring motorcycle helmet laws apply to all riders, both drivers and passengers.

Seat-belt laws have been extended to include all occupants in the rear, while drink-driving laws are also in effect despite a nationwide alcohol ban.

In 2018, the National Ministerial Traffic Safety Committee began a four-year road safety strategy. It established collaborative relationships between the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior and others to address the different causes of road traffic accidents.

Oman

Speeding and poor driving skills are being blamed as the main causes of road accidents in the sultanate.

In 2015, the country's number of road deaths was 696 — that fell to 527 in 2019.

Revised seat-belt laws to apply to passengers as well as drivers, new child-restraint laws and a ban on using mobile phones at the wheel addressed some of the main causes of road deaths.

  • Two people died and 11 others were injured on February 20, when a bus collided with another vehicle in the Ramah area, on the road from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain. Photo: Abu Dhabi Police
    Two people died and 11 others were injured on February 20, when a bus collided with another vehicle in the Ramah area, on the road from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain. Photo: Abu Dhabi Police
  • Five people died in April 2021, when the driver of one car crashed into another on a motorway, in Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi. Photo: Abu Dhabi Police
    Five people died in April 2021, when the driver of one car crashed into another on a motorway, in Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi. Photo: Abu Dhabi Police
  • Nineteen people were injured in separate traffic accidents in Dubai on January 27-28 this year. Photo: Dubai Police
    Nineteen people were injured in separate traffic accidents in Dubai on January 27-28 this year. Photo: Dubai Police
  • A minibus collided with a motorcycle on January 27. The accident happened on an internal road along Al Asayel Street, towards Discovery Gardens. Photo: Dubai Police
    A minibus collided with a motorcycle on January 27. The accident happened on an internal road along Al Asayel Street, towards Discovery Gardens. Photo: Dubai Police
  • Several vehicles crashed into one another on Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road on January 29, 2020, as drivers failed to keep a safe distance. Photo: Dubai Police
    Several vehicles crashed into one another on Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road on January 29, 2020, as drivers failed to keep a safe distance. Photo: Dubai Police
  • A man and his son sustained severe injuries when their motorcycle flipped over on Al Qudra Street in January. Photo: Dubai Police
    A man and his son sustained severe injuries when their motorcycle flipped over on Al Qudra Street in January. Photo: Dubai Police

Bahrain

In 2021, Bahrain achieved the largest reduction in road deaths and injuries in the region — a 35 per cent drop.

Overall since 2015, road deaths have fallen from an annual number of 103 to 85 in 2019.

Although the development of new cities increased traffic volume, it did not result in more road injuries and fatalities.

This was a result of better traffic monitoring, more rigorous law enforcement by increased foot and car patrols, and engineering solutions in congested areas.

Jordan

The number of road deaths have fallen in Jordan from 2,220 in 2015 to 1,717 in 2018 according to the WHO — but the country remains plagued by high traffic-related fatalities and injuries.

National seat-belt laws apply only to drivers and are moderately enforced.

According to the GRSP, only 42 per cent of front-seat occupants were found to be wearing seat-belts.

There are no child-restraint laws and a third of those killed on the roads are pedestrians.

The Traffic Department has been more active in campaigning publicly for road safety, mainly by publishing regular statistics and shaming reckless drivers on social media and publishing photos of horrific accidents.

Roads in Jordan are poorly maintained although the Saudi Fund for Development has paid in the past decade for major motorways, including a large proportion of the desert road south, a new motorway to Zarqa — Jordan’s second city — and the airport road.

There is the occasional speed camera but not to the degree that exists in the Gulf.

The Traffic Department often cites speeding as a cause of accidents.

Lebanon

A 2021 study by the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut found 72 per cent of those injured in road accidents were men, with an average age of 32.

It also found almost half of those injured (48 per cent) were passengers aged 15-29, while motorcyclists suffered the greatest proportion of injuries at 38 per cent.

Figures from the WHO showed traffic deaths rose from 1,058 in 2015, to 1,127 in 2019.

Half of the accidents occurred on unmarked two-way roads.

A national assessment in 2016 looked at the functional and structural condition of the roads and rated the safety of the network for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists from one to five stars.

Only 10 per cent of the network was awarded the benchmark three-star rating or better.

Since then, a $170 million loan from the World Bank under the Safer Roads Investment Plan aimed to improve safety on roads to give 70 per cent of routes a three-star rating by 2030.

In 2021, a further 20 auditors were trained to monitor improvements and conduct regular safety checks at traffic pinch-points in Beirut.

Tammam Nakkash, a transport systems expert and public transportation advocate, says traffic safety laws are rarely enforced consistently.

"Anyone can get a driver's licence without even taking the driver's test," Mr Nakkash said. "All one would have to do is 'grease the wheel' a little bit."

Despite being legally obliged to, drivers and front-seat passengers rarely wear their seat-belts and the law is often not enforced — neither is a law stipulating that babies and infants must ride in child-seats until they are 5.

Mr Nakkash, who had long advocated a reliable public transport system in Lebanon, said road safety in the country had essentially crumbled.

"We are worse off than it ever was in the past, we are similar to how Beirut was around 1994-1995," he said, referring to a turbulent era of post-war reconstruction, when much of the capital's infrastructure was in disarray after 15 years of civil war.

"It's chaos."

Additional reporting by Nada Homsi in Beirut and Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Jordan

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
INFO

What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

While you're here
The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now 

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

Racecard

5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m

6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m

6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m

7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m

7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Important questions to consider

1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?

There are different types of travel available for pets:

  • Manifest cargo
  • Excess luggage in the hold
  • Excess luggage in the cabin

Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.

 

2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?

If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.

If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.

 

3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?

As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.

If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty. 

If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport. 

 

4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?

This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.

In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.

 

5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?

Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.

Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.

Source: Pawsome Pets UAE

Tamkeen's offering
  • Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
  • Option 2: 50% across three years
  • Option 3: 30% across five years 

Profile of Foodics

Founders: Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab AlOthmani

Based: Riyadh

Sector: Software

Employees: 150

Amount raised: $8m through seed and Series A - Series B raise ongoing

Funders: Raed Advanced Investment Co, Al-Riyadh Al Walid Investment Co, 500 Falcons, SWM Investment, AlShoaibah SPV, Faith Capital, Technology Investments Co, Savour Holding, Future Resources, Derayah Custody Co.

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

Updated: July 13, 2022, 7:09 AM