Road safety and Qatar’s plans for safe transportation will be the prime focus of a forum in Doha next week.

The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Road Safety Forum is endorsed by the Ministry of Interior and Ashghal Public Works Authority and will take place from September 22 to 23, at the  Ritz-Carlton, Doha, Qatar.

The forum is a platform for the strategy partners, government and transport authorities, emergency services, and solutions providers to confront and address the loss of life on Qatar’s roadways.

Traffic safety has been high on the national agenda since the National Traffic Safety Committee laid out a plan to save at least 800 lives and prevent 2,000 serious injuries within the next 10 years as part of the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS).

The 3rd Annual ITS and Road Safety Forum joins the programmes that run alongside the NRSS to offer case studies, lectures and workshops on ITS; policies that encourage safe driving behaviour; safe design and delivery of road and transport networks; and public awareness campaigns that inspire drivers and pedestrians to put road safety first.

A senior representative at Ashghal Public Works Authority will introduce the ITS Master Plan in the inaugural keynote. The presentation will also detail expectations and deliverables of the Master Plan, a necessity for any company planning to submit a tender for the project later this year.  
Road Safety engineer advisor at Ashghal Public Works Authority, Fabian Marsh will also deliver a presentation on the NRSS, discussing its basis in the Safe System and what it means for Qatar.

The second keynote will feature Eng Mohamad Al Malki an expert in the office of the Minister of State for Interior Affairs. As a member and general secretary of the National Committee for Traffic Safety, he will detail the role of the National Road Safety Strategy in reducing fatalities.

Health education is a critical aspect of both the conference and the strategy. Injury prevention director at the Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr Rafael Consunji, will speak on HMC’s latest model for implementing child passenger safety. A principal focus of his presentation will be HMC’s partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organisations that work with and educate families and the public to foster cultures of child safety. Consunji will also review the programme’s progress, and discuss future plans.

The forum will draw local solutions from international models as well. Soames Job, managing director of Global Road Safety Solutions, and adjunct professor of road safety at the University of New South Wales, will offer international case studies from Australia, New Zealand and Europe to discuss the management of speeds, roads and roadsides for safety, and the use of seat belts.

Job said: “It is wonderful to see a country seriously focused on reducing the death and suffering occurring on the roads of the country. The Qatar National Road Safety Strategy is profoundly important for achievement of better road safety.  The strategy has critical implications for the improved management of speeding and pedestrian safety. – TradeArabia News Service