Comparative Study of Road Traffic Rules in Qatar Compared to Western Countries

Abstract

This paper presents the overall results of the comparative study of road traffic rules and corresponding enforcement actions in Qatar compared to western countries specifically the State of Florida in the United States and the United Kingdom. The primary purpose of the study is to provide comparisons with major western countries, and therefore possible guidance in the development and implementation of driving policies in Qatar. Therefore, the main focus of the data collection was on countries that would be considered well established as far as traffic rules and traffic safety. The data collection process covers the detail of the rules and respective enforcement for different topics of interest. The selection of the topics was based on considering that the set of topics had to be sufficiently broad to serve the main purpose of this study. Topics that are either far away from Qatar competencies or that do not have the potential to present interesting best practices are not included. Topics are aggregated by themes in order to enable a systematic approach in the data collection, analysis, and structured presentation of the results. Driving requirements, professional transport, road characteristics, safety equipment, traffic rules, and vehicle characteristics are the six themes used in the aggregation of the topics of interest. The analysis of each topic covers detailed aspects on the rule, control and enforcement framework, and control and enforcement practice. The results of reviewing the traffic laws of the three studied countries indicated that a high percentage of laws and enforcement rules are similar in concept. It was found that the United Kingdom's traffic law is more strict when it comes to minimum age of driving and Qatar's traffic law is more restrict when it comes to running red–light violations. It was also found that Qatar does not currently have traffic laws that address seat belts use for children under 14 years of age, manslaughter and vehicular homicide, or blood alcohol content specifications for driving under influence.