Moving into a new apartment near the Abu Dhabi Corniche six months’ ago was very pleasant at first, with a nice view of the sea and the main road.
However, in contrast to the view, I have had to witness several accidents involving pedestrians being hit when crossing the road in undesignated areas.
This month, I have witnessed around three accidents that required the ambulance services and police to be called in. An accident on October 16 was rather severe as I saw the ambulance personnel escort the pedestrian on a stretcher.
Other than these accidents, I see numerous close calls every day, as pedestrians manage to get away by sheer stroke of luck.
However, these cases are just a few that I have seen from my balcony facing the Corniche road. I am sure that there are several similar cases happening in different parts of the city.
In the area where I reside, there is no mosque for prayer, and I see men running across with their little children to the mosque on the opposite side of the main road. These people are forced to risk their lives, especially on Friday.
We have a real necessity for pedestrian bridges on main roads that do not have a nearby zebra crossing. We cannot blame the driver or the pedestrian, as drivers follow normal speed limits due to radars, and pedestrians are forced to jaywalk because the next crossing signal is too far away, while their destination is right in front of them, just across the road.
This is a rising issue that concerns the safety of both drivers and pedestrians, and measures need to be taken in order to reduce and/or eliminate the danger of pedestrian deaths.
The authorities must take strict action by carefully monitoring and fining jaywalkers. They also need to quickly build pedestrian crossings, bridges or underpasses after considering all the areas in which accidents have taken place.
The reader is based in Abu Dhabi
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