On the morning of August 29, 2022 , the Arab world woke up to the tragic death news of the Lebanese singer Georges El Rassi and his companion.
This news refocused attention on a perennial problem in Lebanon that is rarely prioritized — the high rate of death and injury on the country’s roads, accordingly YASA, a local traffic safety NGO, called on the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to install plastic barriers to cushion impacts against concrete medians. The absence of such safety devices played “a major role” in the two deaths, the NGO claimed.

Unfortunately YASA also pointed out that the same concrete barrier killed three people in a 2016 collision, and nothing was done to install warning signs or protective barriers.

After analyzing the World Development Indicators, under the SDG goal #9, it turns out that the mortality rates due to traffic injuries are higher in developing countries than developed countries. Further analysis showed a negative correlation between GDP per capita and mortality rates due to traffic injuries.

On the bright side a developing country like Lebanon have experienced a major decrease in road traffic deaths after applying strict traffic low enforcement during the period between 2007 and 2011 where Dr. Ziad Baroud served as Minister of Interior and Municipalities. The first crackdown Baroud orchestrated was on traffic disobedience. Working closely with NGOs that promote road safety and injury prevention, notably the YASA and Kun Hadi organizations, one of Baroud’s first undertakings as minister was to impose traffic laws, including seatbelt enforcement and speed limits compliance. Resultantly, under his mandate, in the first year alone, the Ministry of Interior raised the number of traffic officers from 593 to 1,800 and 87% of motorists started complying with traffic lights.