Official government website of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Yesterday, Tuesday, 1/7/1441 A.H., the University, represented by the College of Engineering, held a seminar accompanying the "Your Life is More Important" campaign, launched by His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Faisal bin Meshal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, Emir of Qassim, where 8 speakers from a number of government agencies participated in the seminar at the main lobby of Hall B in the University City.
The seminar aimed to promote adherence to traffic rules to achieve and raise traffic safety rates for the individual and the community, and enhance the spirit of solidarity between government sectors and the community to feel personal responsibility towards raising awareness of the importance of traffic safety and realizing the Kingdom's Vision 2030, in conjunction with the campaign that started on Monday, with an accompanying exhibition with the participation of several government agencies in the region.
The symposium began with a presentation of a practical paper entitled The importance of traffic studies in raising the level of traffic safety, presented by the Dean of the College, Dr. Meshaal bin Ibrahim Al-Mashaigah, Assistant Professor of Transportation and Traffic, who emphasized that traffic safety is related to several factors (internal and external), including political, economic, security, environmental and social: Political, economic, security, environmental and social factors, as traffic accidents are considered a threat to security, noting that it is estimated that more than 5 million people are injured or killed in the world every year as a result of road accidents, and this figure is equivalent to about 2.According to the estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), this figure is likely to increase, as deaths resulting from road accidents are expected to occupy the third place by 2021, as road accident injuries reached 33,199 annually, with 91 injuries per day, and road accident deaths reached 7,489, with 21 deaths per day, according to the traffic safety indicators of the General Traffic Department for 1438 AH.
He added that traffic studies are based on identifying the issue, previous experiences, accurate traffic data, statistical and engineering analysis, choosing the best and appropriate solution, as well as applying and following up the solution. He also talked about developing the database of accidents and traffic violations, expanding the use of automated monitoring technology, traffic reports and data and taking appropriate and correct solutions, after controlling the quality of traffic reports and data and taking appropriate and correct solutions, and establishing model schools with international specifications for driving education.
After that, the Vice Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Fawaz bin Ali Al-Harbi, Assistant Professor of Roads, presented a paper entitled "The Dangers of Mobile Phone Use While Driving a Vehicle", in which he emphasized that traffic accidents are considered a threat to national social security in light of the drain on the country's economic, social and health resources, as statistics indicate that traffic accidents kill and injure millions of people annually around the world. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, figures from the General Authority for Statistics indicate that accidents amounted to 352,464 accidents resulting in 6025 deaths and 40,217 injuries, resulting in economic and social costs amounting to 21 billion riyals and representing 9% of the Kingdom's national income in 2018.
In the Qassim region alone, the number of accidents in 2018 reached 17,510, resulting in 225 deaths and 1,269 injuries, and one of the goals of the National Transformation Program 2030 is to improve living standards and safety through: Reducing the number of traffic fatalities from 28 to 23 per 100,000 population, and reducing the travel time in cities from 77 minutes to 67 minutes. From this perspective, volunteer work is an important factor in building community awareness in forming a traffic culture among all segments of society, which enhances national security and contributes to achieving the Kingdom's vision 2030 in creating a conscious society and a safe quality of life under our blessed homeland.
"Al-Harbi" added that the response time for the driver of the vehicle - who uses a mobile phone - is 4 times that of the driver who does not use a mobile phone, and studies have proven that the response time is 4.6 seconds, and needs the length of a football field to stop, and the likelihood of a traffic accident while making a call is 2.8 times, and it is 23.2 times while typing a text message, depending on traffic volume and the presence of trucks, and awareness must be spread among members of society in unconventional ways, putting the mobile phone in an inaccessible place while driving, using the feature to disable notifications while driving, standing aside if the driver needs to make a necessary and important call, and pairing the mobile phone in the car or using headphones is also distracting.
After that, the Director of the Safety Division at Qassim Traffic, Major Ahmed bin Sulaiman Al-Marshoud, participated in a paper entitled "Traffic safety between reality and hope," in which he pointed out that traffic accidents are a major concern and one of the most important obstacles facing countries today, and one of the most important issues that result in great human and material losses that exceed those caused by wars and conflicts, pointing out that there are 10 causes of traffic accidents in the Kingdom, namely: Using a cell phone in the hand, not following regulations, excessive speed, cutting the signal, reversing the direction of travel, wrong behavior of the driver, driving under the influence of alcohol, not stopping at a stop sign, careless handling of the vehicle, and disregard for the road and its patrons.
Al-Marshoud also presented the most prominent figures on traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia, where he emphasized that 100,000 people were killed by traffic accidents in 20 years, 16 people die every day due to traffic accidents, 68,000 people are injured annually from traffic accidents, 30% of occupancy in some hospitals are accident victims, and 50 billion riyals are annual losses to the Saudi economy.
Then, the Director of the Medical and Quality Department at the Saudi Red Crescent, Dr. Turki bin Hassan Al-Shehri, participated in a paper entitled "First Aid for Traffic Accidents", in which he presented the total number of ambulances transported and non-transported in Qassim during the past years, as well as the methods of using first aid, the emergency medical cases system, priority care, and rapid examination of the injured, through a number of steps, first, surveying the accident site, initial detection, ambulance request, and secondary detection, where first aid skills were presented, then, Engineer Alaa Hosni Al-Saud, transportation and traffic engineer, spoke about the role of traffic engineering in
At the end of the first day of the seminar, Dr. Omar bin Eid Al-Mutairi, Assistant Professor of Transportation and Traffic at the university, spoke about the concept of behavioral adaptation of drivers, real examples of behavioral adaptation, the phenomenon of behavioral adaptation to the countdown meter and violation cameras at intersections, the definition of the dilemma zone or what is called the "Delimma Zone", and the study of the impact of violation cameras and the countdown meter on the behavior of drivers. "He stressed that any solutions or measures that officials seek to apply to regulate traffic or achieve traffic safety will go through the process of behavioral adaptation and have intended and unintended effects that must be examined before and after applying these solutions or measures, so that they achieve their desired purpose.
