Car accidents kill more Yemenis than violence

Farea al-Muslimi

Jun 16, 2014

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A covered body is seen as policemen and people check the scene of a collision on a highway leading to a border crossing between Yemen and Saudi Arabia May 18, 2013. At least 13 people were killed as two cars ran into each other and caught fire after the collision, burning some occupants to death, police officials at the scene said. Yemen is among the countries with the world's highest rates of traffic fatalities. Traffic accidents claimed th — A covered body is seen as policemen and people check the scene of a collision on a highway leading to a border crossing between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, May 18, 2013. — REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

عربي

Cars in Yemen are instruments of death as much as a means of transportation. The 1 million vehicles cruising the streets of Yemen are more dangerous than the 60 million firearms in the country — in times of peace, of course.

In Yemen, al-Qaeda cells are actively killing civilians and soldiers, bloody wars are ravaging the south and the far north, and US drones strike at any time. But the biggest danger to your life is a traffic accident on a public highway.

In April, for example, firearms killed 26 people in Yemen and injured 78. In contrast, 42 people, including nine motorcyclists, were killed and 146 others were injured in traffic accidents in the first week alone. The victims came from all age groups.

In the unofficial competition between weapons and cars in Yemen over who will be the “killer of the year,” cars always win.

Car accidents kill more Yemenis than violence

Poor infrastructure is largely to blame for the more than 2,000 yearly deaths on Yemen’s roads.

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