48 killed this year in road accidents

Dubai: Forty-eight people were killed in road accidents caused by speeding and reckless driving in the last 11 months of this year, a senior police official said on Sunday.

There have been 266 deaths in road accidents from January 1 to November 30 compared to 332 deaths last year.

Lieutenant Colonel Jamal Al Bannai, Director of Fines Follow-up Department at Dubai Police's Traffic Department, on Sunday announced the launch of a campaign called "Speed shatters lives" to crack down on speeding and reckless driving. The campaign will focus on issuing spot fines to speeding motorists.

An undercover monitoring patrol, will scout for speeding vehicles and then inform a police patrol who will stop the car and issue a fine. Lieutenant Colonel Al Bannai said the reason behind launching this campaign is the noticeable increase in fatal accidents and deaths, especially this month.

He said youth between the age group of 18 to 26 were more involved in fatal accidents caused by speeding. Therefore, the traffic police will hold awareness lectures on the dangers of speeding at schools and universities in addition to shopping malls. The fine for speeding over the permitted limit starts with Dh1,000, 12 traffic points and confiscation of the vehicle for 30 days.

The fine for reckless driving is Dh2,000, 12 traffic points and confiscation of vehicle for 30 days.

The official campaign started yesterday and will continue until December 29, but the crack down on speeding offences will continue year around.

"The campaign will also include two large vehicles carrying a car crashed in an accident due to speeding. The two vehicles will roam the city to spread more awareness and show motorists the deadly results of excessive speeding," Lieutenant Colonel Al Bannai said.

What do you think is the reason for people speeding? Is it due to work-related stress or costant traffic congestion? Will this campaign work? Fill in the form bellow to send your comments.