The Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center (QTTSC) at Qatar University’s (QU) College of Engineering (CENG) recently hosted a professional training workshop on “Introduction to Crash Investigation” organized in collaboration with the International Road Federation (IRF) and the World Conference on Transportation Research Society (WCTR), and partially sponsored by Traffic Tech Company.
The workshop was delivered by Mr. Benjamin Van Rooyen from South Africa, Lyceum College Senior Lecturer, and Dr. Wael Alhajyaseen, Associate Professor from the QTTSC.
It brought together more than 30 experts from QTTSC, Qatar Ministry of Interior (General Directorate of Traffic), Public Works Authority (Ashghal), representatives from the National Road Safety Agency in Morocco, experts from the insurance sector in the Republic of India and Nepal, as well as a number of QU faculty and graduate students. The experts exchanged policies, strategies and technologies to improve traffic safety conditions and to overcome road safety challenges in Qatar.
Commenting on the event, CENG Dean Dr. Khaled Kamal Naji said: “This event comes in line with CENG’s efforts to build capacity in specific expertise that are vital to improve traffic safety. This training will equip participants with tools and concepts to conduct a scientific and evidence-based crash investigation. Road safety professionals need to have advanced knowledge on crash investigation to introduce measures to prevent similar crashes in the future.”
Dr. Shaima Ali Al-Qaradaghi, Director of the QTTSC, explained that this course aimed to introduce various aspects required for road crash investigation such as scene sketching theory and practice and the use of various formulas to establish the cause of a crash, minimum speed, etc. Furthermore, the discussions within the course focused on the classification, terminology, factors and phases of traffic crashes, as well as the aspects of scene photography.
Furthermore, Dr. Shaima added that this course will be followed by another one this year entitled “Traffic Safety for Pedestrians and Bicyclists and Urban Street Design” to be held in the period from May 5 to 7, 2024. She noted that all government and private entities are invited to actively participate in this course, which will be delivered by several leading specialists in the field of road safety.