Dubai: The number of road accidents in Dubai have dropped by around 29 per cent this year as a result of massive awareness campaigns, a senior police officer said.
Dubai Police statistics point to a decrease in accidents of around 29 per cent so far this year compared to the first nine months of 2009.
Major General Mohammad Al Zafein, Director of the General Traffic Department at Dubai Police said: "It is part of the strategic plan that has been announced by Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim to bring down fatalities."
Road crash fatalities have also dropped by around 23 per cent since last year, the figures revealed. Dubai Police had reported 162 fatalities in the first nine months of 2009 compared to 124 so far this year. The statistics also showed that road accidents resulted in 225 deaths for the whole of last year. The comparable figure for 2008 was 294.
Pedestrian safety
"We try to decrease fatalities every year by 20 to 23 fatalities," Maj Gen Al Zafein said.
Police said campaigns at worker accommodations educating labourers about the dangers of crossing the road at undesignated areas had been instrumental in decreasing the number of pedestrian fatalities.
"We provide speeches in labour camps educating the labourers about the dangers of crossing the road in undesignated areas. We used to face a lot of problems with labourers losing their lives because of improper methods of crossing the roads. The campaigns managed to decrease the number significantly," Maj Gen Al Zafein explained.
The first nine months of this year have witnessed 1,929 road accidents, compared to a total of 2,724 that were reported in the first nine months of 2009. Dubai Police statistics show that a total of 3,576 road accidents were reported last year.
The statistics also brought to light that the main reason for accidents in 2009 and 2010 was drivers leaving insufficient space between vehicles. "These accidents are all tied eventually to speeding," Maj Gen Al Zafein said.
"Speeding can result in various scenarios such as losing control of the vehicles, colliding with moving or static objects, and even accidents caused by not leaving enough space. The traffic department at Dubai Police will launch a campaign on November 1 called ‘Speed Kills' which will highlight the dangers of speeding."
The roads that witnessed the highest number of fatalities are Emirates Road, Business Bay and Shaikh Zayed Road, according to police sources.
Fewer incidents
Accidents caused by people driving under the influence of alcohol in Dubai have decreased from 422 in 2009 to 258 in the first nine months of 2010. The majority of the accidents took place after sunset, police said.
"We try to increase the number of police patrols in areas and times where such accidents occur in order to prevent them," Maj. Gen Al Zafein said.
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