How traffic incidents are managed in record time on Dubai roads
Dedicated unit takes average of 6 minutes to respond, 8 minutes to clear vehicles
Dubai: The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority along with Dubai Police have managed 22.000 traffic incidents in 13 key corridors between November 2022 and January 2024 in Dubai with an average response time of six minutes and clearance time of eight minutes, thanks to a dedicated Traffic Incident Management Unit.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said on Sunday, “The Traffic Incident Management project jointly run with Dubai Police offers exceptional services to motorists, including addressing vehicle breakdowns, swift management of accident scenes, and restoring normal traffic flow. The scope of the project also covers implementing temporary traffic diversions in the surrounding areas, aiding motorists, and providing traffic management support during events. Specific locations have been designated for the deployment of rapid response vehicles on major highways and critical roads to ensure their quick arrival at accident scenes.”
Corridors that the unit covers
He said six key corridors and streets in the emirate had been added to the project at the start of this year. The expansion increased the total coverage of the project to 13 corridors and streets that include: Sheikh Zayed Road (encompassing Sheikh Rashid Road and Al Ittihad Road), Al Khail Road (Phase I from the Business Bay crossing to Ras Al Khor Road ), Dubai - Al Ain Road, Al Yalayis Street, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, Al Rabat Street, Airport Street, Al Khail Road (Phase II from Ras Al Khor Street to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road), Emirates Road, Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road, and Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street, along with Al Wasl and Jumeirah Streets. By the end of this year, an additional four main corridors will be added, including Ras Al Khor Street, Umm Suqeim Street, Expo Road, and Hessa Street. This will bring the total to 17 corridors, streets and roads extending over 951 km in both directions.
Besides Dubai Police General HQ, the unit worked closely with Dubai Municipality, Dubai Traffic Prosecution, General Directorate of Dubai Civil Defence, and Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, to enhance traffic safety on the roads covered by the project in 2023 as compared to 2022. Traffic incidents resulting in injuries and fatalities dropped by 6.5 per cent, with fatalities decreasing by five per cent across the emirate. The project stands as a key contributor to the enhancement of the integrated road and transport networks, which resulted in the improvement of the average travel time to 10.2 minutes as per the TomTom Index, which measures the time needed to travel a 10 km-distance in the Central Business District (CBD), the official said.
“The Traffic Incident Management service has yielded several benefits for Dubai’s road users. It contributed to their safety, and time savings by minimising traffic accident-related delays. Achievements include a response rate of about six minutes and an average vehicle clearance time of eight minutes. The unit successfully handled 22,341 traffic incidents, including 9,391 vehicle towing operations, from November 2022 until January 2024,” he added.
Injury-related incidents
Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, said, “Since the project’s inception in 2018 and throughout the initial phase, Dubai Police have conducted thorough investigations into serious and injury-related incidents, enforced traffic laws, and offered legal assistance to the incident management unit besides monitoring traffic cameras and running rescue operations for incidents involving injuries among other tasks. Furthermore, Dubai Police carried out comprehensive studies to enhance traffic incident management across the emirate and prepared a guide aimed at improving the handling of such incidents.”
“Phases I and II of the project yielded excellent results that contributed to improving the speed of security responses and reducing traffic congestion, as evidenced by studies conducted. The traffic incident management project is set to shorten the clearance time for minor incidents by 35%, cut down congestion and related expenses by 25 per cent, and diminish the frequency of secondary incidents,” he added.
The partnership with Emirates Auction had contributed to achieving shared objectives for smoother traffic flow and the prompt clearance of damaged vehicles. Over the past two years, these efforts led to the removal of 15,538 vehicles from the roads: 7,316 vehicles in 2022 and 8,222 vehicles in 2023. Additionally, the number of accident reports tallied up to 86,624 reports: 40,925 in 2022 compared to 45,699 reports in 2023. The number of immoderate incidents dropped to 7,435 incidents, with 3,068 occurring in 2022 and 4,367 in 2023. Meanwhile, reports of minor accidents reached 177,134 incidents: 83,131 in 2022 and 94,003 in 2023, explained Al Marri.