BEIRUT: A nationwide campaign aiming to prevent road accidents on New Year’s Eve was unveiled Tuesday by the Internal Security Forces Traffic Management Center, in association with the Interior Ministry. The new program provides partygoers a safe option to get home by offering free taxi services to those who have had too much to drink.
In addition to TMC, the program was coordinated by telecommunications company alfa and a syndicate of taxi drivers.
“The program is oriented toward making the New Year’s Eve safer,” Michel Moutran, head of public relations at TMC, told The Daily Star.
The service can be accessed by calling TMC’s hotline at 1720. An operator will connect the call to emergency services such as the Red Cross or the ISF or send a taxi.
People can also call taxis on behalf of friends who are too inebriated to drive home.
Breathalyzer tests will be in increased use over New Year’s Eve, Moutran added.
Speaking at a news conference, alfa CEO Marwan Hayek said the International Telecommunications Union was developing new technologies to help avoid collisions in the future.
“[We are working on] automated media technologies, communication technologies and GPS as well as radar in the cars,” Hayek said.
“We [also] realized that a large portion of traffic accidents are caused by irresponsible usage of cell phones while driving and it is therefore necessary for us to engage in spreading awareness about road safety,” he added.
The company addressed the issue of using cell phones while driving during a campaign earlier this year.
Road safety is often a topic of debate in Lebanon.
Hayek said 800 people die each year from traffic accidents in the country, and experts attribute a large number to drunk driving, although there are no reliable statistics available.
The ISF has partnered up with road safety non-governmental organizations YASA and Kunhadi to help prevent drunken driving fatalities this New Year’s Eve.
Their campaigns, which involve social media, mainly target 18- to 25-year-olds – the group most likely to drive while under the influence of alcohol.
Kunhadi is also offering free taxi services for partygoers. It has teamed up with nightclubs to offer free taxi rides for patrons they suspect may try to drive home inebriated.
Nightclub employees will attempt to spot potential drunk drivers and they will arrange for taxis that are either paid for by Kunhadi or have their cost split between the club and the NGO.
The ISF also recently announced measures to begin enforcing the country’s traffic laws more vigilantly. They will hope to replicate last year’s success on New Year’s Eve, when there was not a single recorded drunk driving accident.
ISF Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous will carry out a field tour of preparations for New Year’s Eve starting at the barracks of late Col. Wissam al-Hasan in Dbayeh.
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