5 hurt in Abu Hadriyah road accident

JUBAIL: An accident on the busy Abu Hadriyah-Jubail road on Saturday afternoon left five people injured, once again highlighting commuters’ concerns about speeding and poor lighting among others. Over 17 accidents happened on this route in the past two months, according to an official.
Abdullah Al-Qabili, spokesman of the Red Crescent in EP said the Saudi Red Crescent Operations received a communication at 6:42 p.m. about the accident, and immediately three rescue teams with ambulances rushed to the site.
“The five people, who suffered simple injuries, were given emergency treatment. Four of them were taken to Qatif Central Hospital, while one refused to be transferred,” Al-Qabili said, urging people to cooperate with the ambulance squads through opening the road and not crowding in the incident site.
He said that 4 Red Crescent ambulatory centers cover this road, including West Dammam, Abu Hadriyah, South Jubail, and Khursaniyah, which are always on standby.
The road is an old highway in the Eastern Province that extends from King Fahd Causeway, linking Bahrain to the Kingdom. The 300-km road is thge main route for trucks carrying goods in the province, and runs parallel to the Dhahran-Jubail Highway, serving major cities such as Dammam and Jubail.
The highway has the highest rate of annual fatal car accidents in the Kingdom. The majority of accidents are caused by individuals driving at high speed, poor road maintenance and lack of lights.
According to statistics, over 80,000 cars cross the road per day. Many motorists have complained that this strategic road suffers from lack of security, light and services, as well as poor asphalt.
Ziad Al-Ruqaiti, the EP police spokesman, said more than 17 car accidents occurred on this road during the last two months; with 50 percent were due to high speed and wrong exceed, said
Al-Ruqaiti said that there are security and traffic patrols to cover the road and they have registered in the same period about 11,154 traffic violations, including 5,292 for excessive speed and 643 for wrong exceed.