This year’s GCC Traffic Week, which opened at Darb Al Sai ground near Sports roundabout on Sunday, is different with its special focus on children.
The organisers have laid on several interesting and innovative activities aimed at creating awareness among children about traffic safety and public security services.
Since its opening, the event has witnessed a large turnout as school students have flocked in huge numbers to take part in different activities and watch a sniffer dog show, cavalry show and camel show.
More than 3,000 students from 45 schools, including primary and secondary independent schools, kindergartens, expatriate schools and language academies, have visited the exhibition over the past three days.
The sniffer dogs put on a fantastic performance for children on detecting drugs and explosives and catching criminals. Personnel from the police canine section joined the show. The dogs took part in a competition in moving tennis ball from a basket, while a tug-of-war contest between primary school students and police dogs evoked an enthusiastic response from the visitors.
The students also visited the Ministry of Interior tent and pavilions of participating companies and learnt about different services provided by MoI departments to the public. They also participated in a quiz contest on traffic safety in which winners were given prizes.
A traffic village for kids is a major attraction of the 29th GCC Traffic Week. It replicates a small village with traffic signs, signals, small cars and bikes that conform to safety and security requirements.
The traffic village is equipped with large screens that show films on traffic awareness and images of road accidents. In addition, there are races among children and teenagers using toy vehicles.
The village aims at creating awareness in children about public safety in an entertaining way. It provides them the knowledge and training to prevent accidents resulting from reckless driving.
This is an innovative idea developed by the Traffic Department in collaboration with National Traffic Safety Committee and private company. There are walkways, roundabouts and signals to train the children in safe driving and identifying traffic signals.
The village also has a training centre that educates children on means and methods of fire prevention. There is a special area for parents and those accompanying the children to watch safe driving instructions on a large LCD screen.
The village helps children learn how to deal with the roads and how to avoid wrong use of vehicles. Brochures, posters and leaflets with are distributed among visitors to raise traffic safety awareness.
A number of government and private entities have also joined the Week, with their own activities contributing to the main theme “Your Safety is Our Goal.”
The pavilion set by Qatargas is focusing on the theme ‘No Cell While Driving”. As the name suggests, the stall imparts awareness on the hazards of using mobile phones while driving. It also features a roll-over simulator that highlights the importance of wearing seatbelts. In addition to airing a road safety commercial targetted mainly at young Qatari drivers, Qatargas is also giving out a road safety booklet to the public.
The Karwa Transportation Training and Development Centre (KTTDC) showcased its products and services to the public and potential customers at a pavilion set by Mowasalat.
KTTDC provides information on obtaining a Qatari driving licence through simple steps. The second highlight was the Driver and Operator Safety Training and the third was the Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).
The Mowasalat stall also provides theoretical and practical lessons on defensive driving, The company has also displayed its most prominent products of training tools such as the roll-over Simulator, the head positioning equipment, the special glasses that warn drivers against vision obstacles and the seatbelt convincer.
The Peninsula
