Heavy vehicle crashes in UAE claim more than 200 lives in 15 years

Dubai: At least 224 people have been killed in accidents involving buses, mini-vans and trucks on UAE roads over the last 15 years, averaging 14 deaths per year.

The majority of the fatalities were Asian workers on major highways with speed limits of at least 100km/h. Most of them were on their way to or back from work, based on Gulf News archives.

The 13 workers who died on Emirates Road early Saturday is a huge addition to the growing tally of senseless carnage on UAE roads. Most of these accidents could have been avoided had drivers observed traffic rules.

A bus transporting 48 workers was crushed like a tin can last year when a truck carrying sand and stone suddenly swerved and collided with it. Most of the 24 workers who died were killed on impact. Others were buried alive in sand when the truck’s load tipped over on to the workers inside the mangled bus. The accident — due to lack of safe distance between vehicles – remains the worst road accident in UAE’s recent history.

In 2010, six workers died and 44 were injured when their bus made a U-turn without checking for oncoming traffic. A truck rammed into the bus, throwing it several metres away on impact.

Records show that speeding, sudden swerving, and forcing one’s way to reach a missed exit put passengers’ lives at risk. Sadly, reckless driving among heavy vehicles has become a common sight and the number of deaths just keeps piling up.

Here's a look at deadly crashes on UAE roads in the last 15 years:

2014: The wreckage of an overturned bus after an accident in Dubai on May 10. The bus, which was carrying 29 workers, collided with a truck.

2013: Three people died when a pick-up truck hit another truck due to speeding and lack of safe distance on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road on June 2, 2013.

2013: Twenty-four workers were killed and 24 injured when a truck swerved and collided with the bus on the Al Ain-Abu Dhabi Truck Road on February 4.

2010: Five people died when their SUV ran into a truck parked in the middle of the road because it ran out of fuel on Emirates Road on February 28.

2010: Six workers died, 44 were injured when a truck rammed into a bus carrying workers while trying to make a U-turn on Gayathi Road leading to Ruwais, Abu Dhabi on March 29.

2009: Seven killed, 11 injured when a minibus driver swerved to take an exit he had missed, hitting a car on the next lane on the Dubai-Al Ain Road on October 4.

2008: Five people were killed in a crash near the Dubai Police Officers' Club along Shaikh Rashid Road in Dubai on July 13.

2006: Nine workers died and 50 were injured when a bus overturned opposite Mall of the Emirates along Shaikh Zayed Road in Dubai on December 14.
 

2001: Five pilgrims were killed, 26 injured when a coach hit a truck on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi Highway on January 18.