A car damaged after a crash at an army checkpoint, in Saida, southern Lebanon, in 2021. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Since the beginning of September alone, at least 28 people, some as young as 20, have been killed in traffic accidents across Lebanon, according to numbers provided by both the Traffic Management Center (TMC) and the Youth Association for Safety Awareness ( YASA), an organization specialized in road safety.
"A young man in intensive care after a road accident," headlined the Lebanon 24 website on Tuesday. The day before, the TMC reported two deaths and 14 injuries following 13 road accidents in 24 hours. "Heavy tolls this year," announced the tayyar.org website.
These victims have names and faces, like that of Rita Nacouzi, 28, who was killed on Sept. 10 while sitting in the passenger seat alongside her fiancé. Or Joseph, his wife Jocelyne, their children Michel and Elias, aged four and two, and their 15-year-old nephew Majed, who all died when their vehicle plunged into a ravine in the Qadicha Valley in Bsharri last month.
While every tragic accident makes headlines and draws attention on social media, can we conclude that Lebanon's roads are now more dangerous than in the past?
'Neglect and chaos piling up'
Forty people died in all of September in 2023, compared to 26 in 2022, according to the TMC. This year, the total number of road accident fatalities has reached 270 so far, according to the Youth Association for Social Awareness (YASA), a road safety organization.
According to the TMC figures for the current year, 210 people have lost their lives since January 2024, not including August, as the figures for that month were not available at the time of the article's publication. For the same period in 2023, 247 fatalities were reported.
These figures reflect only the fatalities that occur immediately as a result of an accident and do not include victims who succumb to their injuries days or even months later — meaning, the actual death toll is likely higher than reported, according to experts from YASA.
“It’s all due to neglect and the chaos piling up,” Ziad Akl, head of YASA International told L'Orient Today, when asked about the reasons behind the high mortality rate in traffic accidents.
Lebanon has been grappling with a severe economic crisis since 2019, which has crippled public institutions, including the Public Works Ministry, hampering their ability to maintain roads.
Joe Daccache, Vice President of YASA International, attributed the surge in traffic accidents to a combination of factors, including poor road maintenance, inadequate law enforcement, and deteriorating conditions following the 2019 economic collapse. He highlighted that security forces are now operating with significantly reduced resources, limiting their enforcement capabilities.
“We’ve been warning about this scenario for years. Every year is worse than the last, and no one is taking action,” Daccache said.
He also explained that accident numbers tend to rise during the summer months, as many expatriates return to Lebanon for vacation.
“There is no law enforcement. When [caretaker Interior Minister Bassam] Mawlawi tried to implement a security plan, there were no accidents that day,” Daccache remarked, referring to a March security initiative that resulted in numerous vehicle confiscations.
A source from the Internal Security Forces (ISF) acknowledged their role in preventing accidents but emphasized that other entities are also responsible. "It’s a shared responsibility between us, the Vehicle Registration Center, and the Ministry of Public Works, which maintains the roads," the source said. "When we attempted to enforce the law as part of our security plan, we faced widespread opposition," they added.
Vehicle maintenance
Daccache also highlighted the impact of the economic crisis on vehicle maintenance. “Even if vehicle inspections were in place, people simply don’t have the money to fix their cars, contributing to the number of accidents,” he said.
“The Public Works Ministry needs to maintain the roads, while we, as human rights organizations and civil society, raise awareness. If we do this, we can reduce mortality rates by 50 percent.”
The Public Works Ministry has launched projects for the rehabilitation of several highways and roads this year, especially in recent weeks, covering regions from southern Lebanon to areas near the Lebanese-Syrian border.
However, Daccache cautioned that road paving alone is insufficient.
“When you pave a road, people drive faster on roads that are still unfit and lack proper lighting. Instead, you could focus on smaller roads with proper maintenance, including reflective paint, if the government can’t afford to light the highways,” he said. “Many countries use reflective paint as a cheaper, more efficient alternative to lighting."
On Tuesday, journalist Shadi Heleneh of Akhbar Al Yawm wrote in an open letter to Mawlawi that “it is no longer acceptable to remain silent about the horrific and deadly traffic accidents happening on Lebanon’s roads!” He urged Mawlawi to make road safety "a top priority," stressing the need for strict speed limit enforcement, rigorous traffic law implementation, and the reactivation of patrols and speed cameras.
The Interior Ministry, Internal Security Forces and Public Works Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
