Traffic Fatalities in Saudi Arabia Fall More Than 60% Since 2016
A new report links the decline to infrastructure upgrades, technology and faster emergency response.
Traffic fatalities in Saudi Arabia declined by more than 60% between 2016 and 2025, according to the 2025 annual report issued by the Ministerial Committee of Traffic Safety.
The report found that road safety indicators improved across the Kingdom during the period, attributing the progress to coordinated efforts across multiple sectors, wider use of technology to curb violations, enhanced infrastructure efficiency and improvements to emergency response systems.
Among the developments introduced in 2025 were updates to the traffic system that imposed stricter measures on serious violations committed by foreign drivers, faster emergency response times and the adoption of Saudi Road Code standards in new projects to improve infrastructure safety and sustainability.
The report identified insufficient safe following distance as the leading cause of accidents, accounting for 29.2% of cases. Sudden swerving followed at 27.9%, while failure to give right of way represented 10.3%.
Distracted driving accounted for 5.6% of accidents, while driving against traffic flow was responsible for 0.7%.
The committee noted that further efforts are needed to promote safe driving practices and improve road user behaviour.
In addition to analysing the causes of accidents, the report reviewed urban and intercity traffic trends, fatality and injury rates per 100,000 people, and the distribution of accidents across age groups and nationalities.
Saudi Arabia's road safety indicators were also benchmarked against those of selected G20 countries.
