08 June 2011

BEIRUT: With a combination of drivers who routinely speed, a lack of pedestrian overpasses and a public that is largely uneducated about road safety, Lebanon has one of the worlds worst accident rates for pedestrians.

According to the world Health Organization, (WHO) Lebanon ranks 43 out of 178 countries in terms of poor road safety. Over 90 percent of the worlds road accident fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries. Almost half of those that die in traffic accidents are pedestrians, cyclists or other vulnerable road users according to the WHO.

Today, NGOs are lobbying to increase public awareness of road safety and pedestrian walkways in a country where 40 percent of road accidents involve foot traffic, compared with 10 percent in developed countries.

Ten years ago, the government was supposed to construct hundreds of overpasses. Now there are only 40. We need at least 90 more, says Ziad Akl, president of the Youth Association for Social Awareness (YASA), an NGO focusing on road safety for youths. If built, they would lower the annual [car accident] death in Lebanon by at least 100.

There are around 600 car deaths from car accidents per year in Lebanon.

But Akl says that building more pedestrian overpasses, like other infrastructure projects that are on hold in Lebanon, arent a government priority, as those primarily affected are foreign workers and others who cant afford cars. And with the current government stalemate, he worries that any solution will continue to get postponed.

The police say that once the government is formed, they are planning on implementing new traffic laws, which will include higher fines for speeding.

For now, NGOs are doing their best for educate the public about road safety while they await better infrastructure and stricter traffic laws.

People arent aware of the functionality of pedestrian routes, said May Abdouny, media and web officer for Kunhadi, a non-governmental organization whose website features testimonials of those close to car accident victims.

In mid-May, they launched the Decade of Action for road safety in Lebanon at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Palace. The event hosted more than 1,000 people, including representatives from the government and the WHO. One of their next projects is to promote road safety education at schools, which will include installing more signs, collaboration with the Interior Ministry to combat drunk driving and the implementation of road ethics in the academic curriculum.

Its mainly the driver thats supposed to give priority to the pedestrian. But its both of their faults, said Abdouny. Theres a lack of awareness of pedestrian crossing routes.

Meanwhile, pedestrians continue to routinely run across Lebanons busy highways, risking their lives to reach their destinations. This primarily occurs on the main highway that extends from Tripoli to Beirut and then south to Sidon.

At a pedestrian overpass in Dbayeh, people walking overhead the busy traffic said they wished there were more bridges, while others braved the speeding flow of cars below.

I dont like cutting across the autostrad [highway]. Ive done it once, maybe twice, said Abdel-Massih Sfeir, a cook at a nearby restaurant on his way to work, as he looked down below at the speeding cars and another bridge in the distance. There should be more bridges. If someone gets off the bus far from the bridge, then it can be really hard to walk all the way to the bridge.

He added, Its not worth the risk to run through the traffic. Sometimes its only a difference of five minutes.

Najah Dib, walking across the same bridge, says he thinks that running through traffic is not only risky, but it also can be huge waste of time.

What can I say? Once I saw someone down below waiting and waiting for a break in the traffic. It would have been faster for him to take the bridge.

Giselle Kshafi, a senior citizen on her way to her job at Caritas, says she sees people running through the highway traffic every day. It really bothers me, she said.

Rozi Majarian, who works in a pharmacy factory, said she used to cut across the highway 15 years ago before the bridge was built, now uses it every day. But regardless, she said, I am never scared. We, the Lebanese, dont get scared.

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.