Accident blamed on reckless motorist whose vehicle hit the pavement
In recent weeks, Saudi media reported several deadly accidents. Image used for illustrative purpose only.
A pileup involving 11 cars in Riyadh killed one person and injured two others, the Saudi traffic authorities have said.
The accident happened due to the recklessness of a driver of one vehicle that hit the pavement and the roadway median, the Saudi Traffic Directorate added. It was not immediately clear if the reckless motorist was arrested.
In recent weeks, Saudi media reported several deadly accidents. Last month, four people were killed and two others injured after a truck collided with a bus on a road linking Al Qassim in central Saudi Arabia with the western city of Medina.
That month, a pileup between 20 vehicles in Riyadh also left one person dead and 10 others injured.
Amid stepped-up efforts to reduce road crashes including stringent penalties against offenders in the kingdom, statistics showed a 2.5 per cent decrease in serious traffic accidents in 2023 compared to the previous year
Likewise, a 2.9 per cent drop was seen in deaths resulting from traffic accidents compared to the previous year.
The Saudi Interior Ministry has recently said an enhanced traffic safety system has helped halved road fatalities. The ministry added that such deaths in the kingdom dropped from 28.8 cases per 100,000 people in 2016 to about 13 cases in 2023.
The number of registered and roadworthy vehicles in Saudi Arabia until the end of 2023 reached 15.1 million, up 6.2 per cent against the previous year, according to government figures.
