Dubai Two of the deadliest roads — Emirates Road (E311) and Dubai Bypass Road (E611) — have become the focus of an extensive safety campaign by the Dubai Police Traffic Department.
Efforts by the department resulted in catching motorists with some of the most dangerous driving habits, according to Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of the Traffic Department.
The campaign resulted in 12,957 tickets being issued for traffic violations on Emirates Road and 14,916 tickets on Dubai Bypass Road, with a total of 27,873 tickets being handed out on these roads in the first three months of 2012. There were 14 fatalities on each of these two roads in 2011.
Some of the most serious offences included driving a vehicle with worn out tyres (3,808 tickets), failure to fasten seatbelts (1,945 tickets), overtaking on the hard shoulder (932 tickets), swerving suddenly (196 tickets), failure to keep a safe distance (113 tickets), driving against the traffic (24 tickets), jaywalking (19 tickets), driving recklessly (16 tickets), driving a vehicle making too much noise (13 tickets) and driving in a way that endangers others' lives (9 tickets).
On Emirates Road there were 29 serious accidents resulting in two deaths — four serious, 15 moderate and 35 minor injuries, compared to 21 serious accidents resulting in two deaths, six serious, 14 moderate and five minor injuries, the previous year.
There were 10 serious accidents on Dubai Bypass Road in the first quarter resulting in one death, three serious, six moderate and nine minor injuries, compared to nine serious accidents last year which resulted in one death, two serious, eight moderate and five minor injuries.
Some of the main reasons for serious accidents causing deaths in Dubai in the first quarter were failure to acknowledge pedestrians, which resulted in eight deaths, sudden swerving of vehicles which caused five accidents, and jumping the red light and entering a road before ensuring it is clear causing three deaths each.
Driving under the influence of alcohol topped the cause of road deaths, resulting in nine fatalities.
Sharjah: Fatalities decline
The number of fatal traffic accidents in Sharjah during the first quarter of the year has declined when compared to last year, due to police carrying out awareness campaigns across universities and various educational institutes, a senior police official announced yesterday.
"We are targeting the youth because they are often the cause, as well as the victims, of fatal accidents. We carried out awareness programmes to educate young men about our tougher policies against reckless driving and breaking traffic rules and, according to statistics, our method has worked," said Colonel Shawwaf Mohammad Abdul Rahman, Director of Traffic and Patrols General Headquarters of Sharjah Police.
According to statistics released by the Traffic and Patrols Department at Sharjah Police, the number of deaths from January to March recorded a 13.6 per cent decline from 44 in 2011 to 38 in 2012.
Col Shawwaf explained that the number of traffic-related injuries also witnessed a decline by 30 per cent as compared to 2011, while traffic accidents decreased by 15 per cent from 220 in 2011 to 187 in 2012.
"The number of deaths among Emiratis has significantly decreased by 57 per cent from 14 last year to six in 2012," said Col Shawwaf, who attributed the sharp drop in deaths and traffic offences to raising the number of speed radars set up across Sharjah along main roads as well as internal streets.
As part of the emirate's move to curb traffic accidents, Col Shawwaf pointed out that the new rule to confiscate vehicles with modified engines has also made a significant impact.
— By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
