Reducing traffic accidents is a societal responsibility that requires the concerted efforts of all local actors and residents.

Northwestern regions of Syria, since the beginning of Eid Al-Fitr until the evening of Monday, April 24, witnessed an increase in the rate of traffic accidents, and the Syrian Civil Defense teams responded during this period to 11 of them, which caused the death of a child and injured 34 civilians, including 24 children and 3 women. Most of the accidents are due to excessive speed and non-compliance with traffic rules.

The saddest day in four days was, Monday, April 24th, when a child died and two others were injured in a traffic accident that occurred on the Atarib-Kafr Karmin road, west of Aleppo, and 19 civilians, including 13 children and two women, were injured in 4 separate traffic accidents in Idlib countryside, to which responded by the White Helmets teams until the time this report was published.

From the beginning of the current year 2023 until, Sunday, April 23th, the White Helmets teams responded to 346 traffic accidents in all regions of northwestern Syria, and these accidents resulted in the death of 4 men and the injury of 271 civilians, including 79 children and 28 women. January was the month with the most accidents where more than 111 accidents were recorded.

There are many reasons for traffic accidents, the most important of which are speeding, bad roads, children driving cars and motorcycles, non-compliance with safety procedures and traffic laws, lack of verification of the technical condition of vehicles (brake, lamps and tires) and checking them periodically, in addition to overcrowding in the NW regions of Syria, which was caused by the displacement campaigns.

The White Helmets teams are constantly working through the community resilience programs to repair the roads and close potholes in them, restore cycles and medians, and prepare roads in the areas and in the camps in an attempt to reduce traffic accidents and alleviate suffering during transportation, and the awareness teams are constantly working to spread awareness messages among civilians about traffic safety, in addition to installing traffic signs on many roads in NW Syria, and at road junctions and dangerous turns to reduce traffic accidents and their damages.

Adhering to traffic safety rules and traffic laws, activating traffic laws, and repairing the destroyed infrastructure in NW Syria as a result of Russia and regime’s war against Syrians, which has been going on for more than 12 years, and which was exacerbated by the recent earthquake, are all important and complementary factors to reduce traffic accidents.