Kunhadi “Maghdoushe Target Zero” achieves 0 crashes in ten months
In 2015, the President of Maghdoushe Municipality, Mr. Georges Younan, reached out to Kunhadi seeking a solution to reduce the toll of traffic crashes occurring in the southern town that is populated by 10,000 people.
Kunhadi launched “Target Zero” project in Maghdoushe to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries of road traffic crashes in this area to ZERO.
Maghdoushe Target Zero was implemented in 2015 on a 9 km stretch divided into the arterial road that goes through the town center and leads to over a hundred surrounding cities and a by-pass road that links five schools. This 9 km stretch of road was the scene to multiple fatal and non-fatal road traffic crashes caused by speed, bad lighting, and lack of pedestrian facilities.?
The project, which was as road safety-oriented as it was eco-conscious, included:
- Main road asphalt patching
- Installation of road signs and retro-reflective markings
- Rehabilitation of the road pavement including the main square and the old historic street that used to be the town center 75 years ago
- Road markings
- Installation of speed bumps in front of schools and black spots (where many crashes occur)
- Speed bumps around pedestrian areas
- Switching the town’s street lighting system to solar energy through installation of high efficiency LED street lamps powered by solar panels with 40% efficiency and equipped with batteries and UPS to keep the road visible and safe for drivers at all times
- Hosting road safety conferences in schools of Maghdoushe and neighboring towns
In addition to improving the infrastructure of the road stretch, a fully equipped ambulance and over 12 volunteers were stationed in the vicinity of Target Zero project to guarantee an immediate response and care should a crash occur.
Since Maghdoushe Target Zero was implemented during the last months in 2015 and up to date, not only did road fatalities and serious injuries stop but so did all road traffic crashes, becoming the first project of its kind to take place in Lebanon and by that proving that joint efforts between civil society, concerned authorities and paramedics is indeed capable of stopping road traffic crashes.
