Abu Dhabi: Tailgating, speeding, taking photos while driving and cutting others off is a sure way to land in hot water.
And police are looking to put an end to it.
Abu Dhabi Police have released an awareness video to show residents the types of accidents that could have easily been avoided had motorists followed the rules. In such cases, irresponsible motorists not only injure themselves, but also affect other road users.
Now, police are looking for harsher penalties against traffic violators through inviting the public to participate in its campaign titled, “Give Your Comment".
Colonel Mohamed Ali Al Muhairi, director of the Security Media Department, said that the campaign’s new approach aims to enhance communication between the police and the public.
Since the campaign was launched three days ago, Abu Dhabi Police received hundreds of comments on their social networking sites from concerned residents who agreed that stricter action should be taken to prevent traffic violations.
In the list of comments, social media users agreed that one of the main causes for traffic accidents were distracted motorists who do not drive safe. They also suggested that safe drivers who did adhere to traffic rules should be permitted to use dashcams to record traffic violations on the road.
Recent statistics showed that the rate of traffic accidents in Abu Dhabi has declined by 11 per cent between January and April 2018, compared to the first four months of 2017.
The number of deaths in traffic accidents decreased by 22 per cent, the rate of severe injuries fell by 14 per cent and the number of fatalities by run-over accidents also declined by 50 per cent.
Major General Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, director of central operations at Abu Dhabi Police, attributed the drop in accidents due to the installation of more surveillance cameras and smart radars, adding that police recorded 91,700 traffic violations in the first four months of 2018.
Earlier this month, a school bus driver was arrested after footage revealed how he almost ran over a pupil and a supervisor.
The incident occurred when one school bus was dropping a child at his residence, while another one ignored the stop sign of the first vehicle.
