Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — Minister of Transport and Logistics Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser said that Saudi Arabia is ranked as the most connected country in the world in terms of its road network. The Kingdom witnessed a fall in the rates of serious accidents, deaths, and injuries by more than 50 percent in recent years, he said while launching the “Safe distinguished roads” campaign in Riyadh on Sunday.

The minister said that the campaign, which is being held for the fourth year in a row, aims to raise the efficiency of the long road network and the level of safety, and to provide the best possible services for the road users. He noted that the campaign has had a significant impact on raising the level of quality, safety, and the experience of road users over the past years. “Roads are witnessing a major renaissance in the Kingdom, both in terms of continued and increased excellence in terms of connectivity, thanks to the huge investments it has made over the past decades,” he said.

Referring to the safety measures, Al-Jasser said that the great efforts, whether engineering efforts related to improving quality, upgrading intersections, managing black spots, and investing in safety aspects have contributed to reducing the number of serious accidents, deaths, and injuries by more than 50 percent in recent years. He specially noted that the United Nations target with regard to safety by means of reducing the accident death rates is by 50 percent during the period until 2030.

Regarding the quality of roads, the minister said: “There is great hope in improving the level of quality, as we know that the Kingdom has invested in it greatly. The quality of roads is considered to be at a good level, and we want to reach the level of excellence, which is what we have been focusing on in recent years.”

The minister pointed out that the Kingdom has reached a road quality rating of 5.7 within a span of three years, and this is more than half of the journey required by 2030.