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. 2018 Sep;5(3):103-109.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijpam.2018.08.002. Epub 2018 Sep 7.

Impact of vision 2030 on traffic safety in Saudi Arabia

Mohammed A H Dahim  1
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Impact of vision 2030 on traffic safety in Saudi Arabia

Mohammed A H Dahim. Int J Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2018 Sep.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Background and objectives: Road traffic accident (RTA) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the first and major cause of death. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of Saudi Vision 2030 on road traffic safety. The Vision 2030 programs lead to the implementation of two crucial steps. The first step was to introduce value-added tax (VAT), and the second step was to increase fuel prices. The effect of these two steps on RTAs, injuries, and fatalities is determined and evaluated in this study.

Research methods: The data of RTAs, injuries, and fatalities in the last three decades before implementing VAT and before increasing fuel prices were collected and analyzed. A short-term effect of fuel prices was evaluated using the data of 3 months after each increase in fuel price. The results of RTA before the increase in fuel prices were compared with those of RTAs after the increase in fuel prices. Time series autoregressive and t-test were used to analyze the significant differences in the results.

Results and discussion: The results show that RTAs have increased continuously during the last 30 years until the increase in fuel prices. A short-term effect of Vision 2030 and economic transformation were evaluated using RTA data before and after the increase in fuel prices. The remarkable decline in the number of RTAs, injuries, and fatalities after fuel prices increased was recorded.

Conclusion: Despite all the core issues implementing to reduce RTAs, such as traffic law enforcement, RTAs in the KSA increase and become the first cause of death in the country. Vision 2030 leads to an increase in gasoline prices and the implementation of VAT. The increase in gasoline prices contributes to a short-term decrease in RTAs, injuries, and fatalities by 22.4%, 21.9%, and 14.1%, respectively, while intermediate-term decrease in RTAs and road traffic fatalities is by 72892 and 1842, respectively. The decrease in RTAs may be attributed to the reduction in unnecessary trips and slower and careful driving by people to decrease fuel consumption. Statistical analyses performed using time series and t-test confirmed the significant effect of fuel prices on reducing RTAs.

Keywords: Fuel prices; Saudi Arabia; Traffic accident; Traffic safety; Vision 2030.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The number of road traffic accidents during the last three decades.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The number of road traffic injuries and fatalities during the last three decades.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of drivers involved in road traffic accidents according to age.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Distribution of road traffic accidents according to accident cause.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Time series autoregressive analysis of RTA before and after fuel price increases.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The number of road traffic accidents in the same first 3 months before and after each increase in fuel price.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
The number of road traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities in the same first 3 months before and after each increase in fuel price.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Yearly data of road traffic accidents before and after fuel prices increase.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Yearly data of road traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities before and after fuel prices increase.
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