Dubai: Eleven people died and 57 were injured in truck accidents on Dubai roads last year, an official said on Tuesday.
Colonel Juma Bin Suwaidan, deputy director of Dubai Police Traffic Department, said truck drivers needed to be educated to avoid accidents.
“The main reasons for truck accidents are not following lanes, sudden swerving and parking on the hard shoulder,” said bin Suwaidan. “Its caused 52 traffic accidents where 11 people died and 57 were injured last year compared to 57 accidents in 2018 resulting in 15 deaths and 80 injured,” he added.
Dubai Police’s Traffic Department together with other government and private bodies, organised a one-week awareness campaign for truck drivers in Al Awir to reduce the death rates on the roads.
“The campaign is part of our plan to educate truck drivers as some of them don’t follow traffic and safety instructions. Our aim is to reduce the accident rate on roads and improve safety for other road users,” said Bin Suwaidan.
Dubai Police said they issued 18,203 traffic offences for truck drivers in 2019.
The campaign will include workshops and educational lectures for drivers and the spreading of fliers among truck drivers beside free medical tests for them.
One of the deadliest accidents involving a truck in Dubai last year happened on September 30 when eight people died and six were injured in collision between a truck and mini bus on Mohammad Bin Zayed Road near Mirdif City Centre.
Last week, six people died and 19 were injured in a similar crash in Abu Dhabi that also involved a bus and a lorry.
The accident happened on Al Raha Beach Road outside the capital in the direction of Dubai and was a result of careless driving.
Abu Dhabi Police released a video that showed two trucks slowing because a car in front of them had stopped, before a bus ploughed into the back of the second lorry.
