A study published by the Petra Agency revealed that "in the last six years, Jordan lost approximately 3,511 people due to traffic accidents, transforming vehicles—originally created for the service, comfort, and well-being of humans—into unintended killing tools that burden families with grief for many years and leave permanent disabilities in bodies, increasing suffering." Reports issued by the Public Security Directorate provided "terrifying" information about traffic accidents, indicating that nearly one million traffic accidents occurred between 2017 and 2022, with over 90% of their causes attributed to errors and violations of the law by drivers, amid the absence of deterrent penalties against them. The intensification of penalties and the amendment of traffic laws have become urgent demands to halt these tragedies on the roads and protect individuals.
The reports indicated "the occurrence of 915,114 traffic accidents, resulting in 3,511 deaths and 5,408 serious injuries, causing a financial loss to Jordan amounting to approximately two billion dinars." The reports noted that "the annual number of accidents is relatively consistent, and even during the year affected by closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the count did not significantly decline. In 2017, about 10,226 traffic accidents occurred, and a similar number in 2018, with a slight increase of 100 accidents. The figure jumped in 2019 to 161,511 accidents, while it decreased to 122,970 accidents in 2020 despite the closures and reduced vehicle movement. The numbers rose again in 2021, mirroring the 2019 figure with 160,600 accidents, and reached 169,409 accidents in 2022, the highest in the past six years."
Public Security data showed that "in the first five months of the current year 2023, 223 people died due to traffic accidents, and that 98% of the causes of these accidents are attributed to 'human' factors. Approximately 45,000 drivers ran red lights, which traffic monitoring was able to record, while 23,000 drivers violated traffic rules on public roads, in addition to 1,700 reckless driving violations recorded. By mid-May of last month, 161 driving licenses had been suspended."
