Pedestrian traffic fatalities constitute third of road deaths in 2013

AMMAN – Pedestrian traffic fatalities in Jordan represent over one-third of overall deaths on roads, Director of the Central Traffic Department Brig. Gen. Dawood Hakouz said Thursday.  

According to official figures released by the Public Security Department earlier this year, a total of 757 people were killed in road accidents in 2013, while over 14,000 others were injured. 

Hakouz told The Jordan Times over the phone that nearly 35 per cent of those killed in last year's accidents were pedestrians. 

The official said that not only drivers are to blame for the large number of deaths but also pedestrians, explaining that most people do not use special bridges and tunnels built for people who want to cross the streets. 

"You can see that people cross a street or a highway from underneath the bridge built to ensure their safety," the officer said, describing the percentage of fatalities of pedestrians as an alarming figure.    

Hakouz said that annual financial losses caused by traffic accidents are estimated to be over JD250 million a year. 

He added that although the Traffic Department has launched many awareness campaigns to urge people to use pedestrian bridges, more such educational efforts are still needed. 

According to a study prepared by the department, a total of 10.8 pedestrian-related accidents occurred in Jordan every 24 hours, and nearly every five minutes there was a road accident in the Kingdom. 

The study, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times, showed that every 11 hours a person died in a traffic accident, while every 31 minutes there was an injury. 

The report indicated that people between the age of 18-35 were the most hit by traffic accidents as this age bracket represented around 45 per cent of the overall number of people injured in 2013. 

Most of the pedestrians killed in road accidents were aged between three and five years, said the study, which showed that the financial cost of traffic accidents in Jordan dropped to JD259 million in 2013 from JD267 million the year before due to the 7.3 per cent drop in the number of traffic accidents.