The parliament’s Transportation Committee will summon the chairperson of the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), Atef Yaqub, to discuss the increase in car accidents on the roads over the past period.
A member of parliament said that the committee is concerned about the increasing number of road accidents. The ministries of transportation, environment, finance, and interior will be heard regarding all road-related problems, whether in terms of financing, environmental preservation, or organisation.
He added that the CPA will have a great role over the upcoming period in terms of detecting the specifications of cars, especially complaints from consumers about low-quality car components that negatively impact safety.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Egypt is ranked among the 10 worst countries in terms of road accidents around the world.
In 2015, the number of road accident victims reached 25,500 people, including deaths and injuries, in addition to more than EGP 30bn in material losses.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that the number of car accidents increased to 14,548 in 2015, compared to 14,403 in 2014, a 1% increase that resulted in the death of 6,203 citizens, 19,325 injuries, and 19,116 damaged vehicles.
MP Mohamed Badawy Desouky, member of the parliament’s Transportation Committee, said that human error is not solely responsible for these accidents, as there are problems with the standard specifications for cars in Egypt as compared to other countries.
Desouky added that road accidents over the past period have been causing the state to face heavy losses, whether in terms of human losses, or road damage, which requires a reconsideration of the entire system.
The MP said that, after listening to the CPA chairperson, the committee may summon the president of the Egyptian Organisation for Standards and Quality Control (EOS) to discuss with him the complaints about road accidents.
