Dubai: Three people died in a horrific traffic accident on Sunday morning in Dubai, Dubai Police said.
The accident happened on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road when a pick-up truck on the way to Abu Dhabi was involved in a collision with a truck
The driver of the pick-up and two passengers with him died instantly.
Police said initial investigations showed the accident happened due to speeding and because the pick-up driver was too close to the truck.
Police said that speeding caused the death of two people during the first quarter of this year. Statistics issued by the Dubai police traffic department showed that changing lanes suddenly topped the list of reasons that led to deaths on roads. Swerving caused 175 accidents in which 15 people died during the first three months of this year, during the same period last year only five deaths were reported. Speeding was the second cause of accidents and not leaving enough distance between cars was the third cause of accidents.
Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Chief of the Traffic Department of Dubai Police, blamed rash driving as the main reason behind the increase in the number of deaths due to road accidents. He said the police would launch new campaigns to tackle this problem.
Jumping red lights caused the death of three people this year in the first quarter, the same as last year. The number of deaths in roads accidents sharply increased to 48 in the first quarter of this year compared with 27 in the corresponding period last year.
Lack of attention while driving was the second reason that led to fatal accidents this claimed the lives of 11 people, while last year this caused eight deaths.
He said the number of injuries due to traffic accidents has also increased as 58 people were seriously injured in 724 traffic accidents this year compared with 36 serious injuries in 675 traffic accidents from January to March last year.
Bypass road topped the list of roads in traffic accidents as this year eight people died on it in six traffic accidents, followed by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road in which five accidents took place, claiming the lives of six people while Shaikh Zayed Road was third in the number of traffic accidents this year as two people died on this road this year in three traffic accidents.
