Abu Dhabi Participants in an international symposium on traffic accidents suggested setting up centres to study the social and psychological effects of road accidents and their cost to society.
This would serve as a starting point to finding solutions and educating the community, they said.
They also stressed the role of families in educating their children about road safety.
The International Symposium was titled "Traffic accidents: Effects and Reflections on Social, Health and Economic Development" and was organised by the Emirates Traffic Safety Society, under the patronage of Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, and Honorary Chairman of the Emirates Traffic Safety Society.
The seminar called for the setting up strategies that will drop the fatality and injury rate of road accidents, as well as the importance of abiding by traffic rules.
Another recommendation was having a joint activity where the whole society takes part in supporting the application of traffic rules and regulations.
The organising of comprehensive traffic awareness campaigns with preventive operations in different Arab countries was also proposed.
Other suggestions included intensifying awareness campaigns among the youth and starting a database of traffic accidents and the resulting human and economic losses in special traffic safety regional posts, in addition to unifying traffic terms used everywhere.
Economic damage
The symposium recommended taking into account the economic damage resulting from traffic accidents and meeting periodically to discuss these figures and laying out strategies aimed at dropping the rate of traffic accidents.
Other suggestions included the need to implement firm laws and regulations for driving licence issuance. Participants stressed the need to increase monitoring levels on shops that provide vehicles with accessories that violate security and safety rules.
Elements of awareness campaigns brought forward included educating the public about the risks of cell phones use while driving and supporting training programmes for teachers, students and others involved in safety and first aid activities.
