Call to ban newspaper sales at roundabouts

A senior police officer yesterday said newsboys should be banned from selling by roadsides and at roundabouts, following the deaths of two vendors in Sharjah in one week.

A decision on the matter should be issued by the authorities, said Colonel Saleh Ali Al Mutawa, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police.

He said the issue of newsboys on roads had been brought up on various occasions. "It is time to take a clear decision on the matter, and all parties should work to implement it," he stressed.

He said alternative locations should be specified for selling newspapers, and suggested the establishment of news agents' kiosks, with their locations to be specified by the authorities.

Other suggestions included selling at petrol stations, supermarkets and bookshops.

Col Al Mutawa pointed out petrol stations could be an ideal place for selling newspapers instead of the current haphazard situation, where newsboys stand at roundabouts and intersections, rushing between cars and jeopardising their own and others' lives.

"If they continue selling at the intersections, it will mean more victims," he maintained.

In addition to the risks, the current practice causes traffic problems as the newsboys fail to abide by the traffic light and continue passing between cars even when the lights turn green, he pointed out.

His comments came after a 32-year-old Indian newsboy was killed on the spot when hit by a car as he was selling a newspaper to another motorist.

The accident, early on Friday on Al Wahda Street, occurred when a motorist stopped at an intersection to buy a newspaper while the traffic light was green. A taxi driver following made an emergency stop to avoid crashing into the first car, but a third car failed to stop and crashed into the taxi.

While the taxi swerved to the right side of the road, the third car slewed to the left, running over the newsboy.

In an attempt to escape, the driver of the third car then reversed quickly and fled the scene, but was caught because onlookers took his registration number.

The newsboy died on the spot due to severe head injuries and extensive bleeding.