Queen Rania Joins Jordanians in KAFA Awareness March

(Jordan Times, Press Department - Amman) Despite the rain and the chilly weather witnessed on Friday morning, thousands of Jordanians participated in a march to raise awareness on road accidents, calling on motorists and pedestrians to heed traffic rules.

Her Majesty Queen Rania participated in the march, organised by the Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS) as part of its recently launched campaign entitled KAFA, or “enough”.

Queen Rania, who chairs the RHAS board of trustees, also signed the KAFA petition along with several representatives of the public and private sectors and civil society institutions, who pledged commitment for collaborative efforts towards reducing traffic accidents in the Kingdom.

Sporting a T-shirt with the campaign slogan, the Queen marched alongside several Jordanians, who lost family members in traffic accidents.

The participants, who marched from the Children’s Museum in King Hussein Park to the Ministry of Public Works near the 8th Circle, carried several posters and placards, highlighting the grave consequences of collisions and other traffic accidents.

“Each week, five children are killed in road accidents,” one placard read, while another said: “One Jordanian is killed every nine minutes in a car accident.”

Other posters focused on speeding, considered the main reason behind traffic accidents.

“Speeding is a crime that cannot be interpreted as a matter of destiny,” said one banner.

Queen Rania announced the KAFA campaign at the end of last month at a meeting with the campaign’s ambassadors, who represent the Kingdom’s various governorates.

During the meeting, the Queen referred to the increasing number of traffic accidents and the tragic stories behind them - of mothers losing their sons or sons losing their parents.

More than 7,000 citizens have been killed and 175,000 injured due to traffic accidents over the past 10 years, according to the Public Security Department (PSD).

During Friday’s march, participants held aloft pictures of children killed in road accidents and banners depicting figures and statistics on gravity of the traffic situation in the Kingdom.

Education Minister Tayseer Nueimi, PSD Director Major General Mazen Qadi and several senior officials took part in the march.

University and school students were also among the marchers, seeking to mobilise support to achieve the goals of the campaign which seeks to bring about behavioural changes and prompt individuals to be more responsible on the roads.

The initiative has three main components: KAFA Youth, KAFA Children and the KAFA media campaign.

During its first three months, the campaign will focus on the dangers of speeding, proper use of seat belts, improper use of lanes, ignorance of “stop” signs and speaking on cell phones while driving.