On October 6, 2015 Saudi Aramco and the University of Dammam signed a renewal of the Aramco Chair for Traffic Safety. This event was attended by UoD’s President, Dr. Abdullah M. Al Rubaish, The Vice President for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Professor Abdulsalam A. Al Sulaiman and the Executive Manager of Safety and Industrial Security, Engineer Bader Al Gadran at the main conference hall on UoD’s campus.
This agreement includes the continuation of the Aramco Chair for Traffic Safety, which contributes to strengthening traffic safety throughout the Kingdom. The agreement also acknowledges the need for more research and training programs related to traffic safety. The technology portion of the agreement has also been extended to three years in order to support scientific research in the field of traffic safety as well as utilize more technology, help improve traffic systems and train and continually educate traffic safety officers through specialized programs. The establishment of channels of communication with worldwide research centers that are specialized in traffic safety is also a part of this agreement, along with supporting efforts to protect the community from traffic accidents and their consequences. This is crucial in light of the rise of the rate of traffic accidents during the past years, which have resulted in the increase of death and injury rates. These rising rates are one of the major challenges facing the Kingdom.
Dr. Al Rubaish expressed his gratitude to Saudi Aramco for renewing this scientific chair agreement and mentioned that he has high expectations that traffic safety and awareness will become a popular cause nationwide and that the nation will benefit from the universal expertise in building a culture of traffic safety and awareness. A culture that will help disseminate traffic safety concepts throughout the Kingdom and drastically reduce the number of traffic accidents, an affliction that results in not only the loss of life, but which also has a financial consequence as well.
Engineer Bader Al Gadran pointed out that, “Scientific research is the basis of any practice if we want to achieve our goals.” He also explained that the Aramco Chair for Traffic Safety reflected Saudi Aramco’s commitment to serving the local community and to protecting the traffic environment. The Saudi Aramco Chair for Traffic Safety is considered one of the most important specialized scientific chairs in the Kingdom because of its importance in providing solutions to minimize traffic accidents.
The signing ceremony was attended by the Chief of the Eastern Province’s Traffic Police, Brigadier General Khalid Al Mazro’a, the General President of Transportation and Roads in the Eastern Province, Engineer Saad Al Sayary, the President of the Studies Office in the Eastern Province Amana Engineer, Amad Al Sahan and the Secretary General of the Traffic Safety Committee in the Eastern Province, Engineer Sultan Al Zahrani, all of whom agreed on the importance of traffic safety. They all acknowledged how vital integrative cooperation between academic experts is and the important role the research conducted under the Saudi Aramco Chair for Traffic Safety plays in solving traffic related challenges both now and in the future. This crucial research, when applied practically will also benefit various government agencies as well.
After the signing, the participants reviewed the achievements, projects and research studies conducted under the Chair and the contributions made in improving traffic safety throughout the past three years. Seven research projects were carried out in the field of traffic safety and eight workshops were held for transportation and traffic engineers in the concerned government agencies, along with a book focusing on the investigation of traffic accidents.
