Dubai Traffic-related fatalities dropped in the first quarter from 33 in 2011 to 27 this year, according to the Dubai Police Traffic Department.
Major-General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, director of the department, said the decline was due to steps taken by the department to protect life, which include cracking down on errant drivers, especially those who commit serious offences.
However, the number of accidents resulting in injuries in the first quarter increased from 629 last year to 675 this year, Maj Gen Al Zafein said.
Nine Emiratis died on the roads in the first quarter, compared to seven in the same period last year.
Pakistanis topped the list of drivers behind serious accidents, causing 85 accidents that resulted in the deaths of four Pakistanis.
Another 152 were injured including 12 seriously, compared to last year when Pakistanis caused 62 accidents, resulting in eight deaths and 100 injuries, 11 of them serious.
Indian citizens were second with 77 accidents, seven road deaths and 111 injuries, eight of them serious, compared to last year when they were involved in 81 accidents, resulting in three deaths, 114 injuries, 11 of them serious.
Topping the list of offences that resulted in traffic-related deaths was a failure to respect other road users, followed by sudden swerving which resulted in five deaths in 96 accidents.
Motorists who entered a road without watching the traffic caused six deaths, the same number as motorists who jumped red lights.
Driving under the influence of alcohol resulted in 66 serious accidents and two deaths while speeding caused 16 accidents and two deaths.
Reckless driving resulted in 14 accidents and 13 injuries. Negligence, burst tyres, lane discipline violations and failing to maintain a safe distance each resulted in one death.
Among the first quarter accidents, collisions between two vehicles came first with 422 accidents involving 951 vehicles resulting in 14 deaths and 323 injured, 28 of them seriously.
Accidents involving pedestrians were second with 76, resulting in nine deaths and 83 injured — three of them seriously — in addition to 80 vehicles being damaged. There were 33 cases of vehicles overturning, resulting in two deaths and 38 injuries.
Emirates Road, Dubai Bypass Road, Al Khail Road, Mirdif Road 251 and National Taxi Junction topped the list of roads with the highest death rates in the first quarter with two deaths each, while there was one on Lisaila road, Shaikh Zayed Road, Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali-Lehbab, Zaabeel and Coop Society roads.
