Two jaywalkers killed on Emirates Road

Dubai: A taxi hit two workers running across the Emirates Road late Friday afternoon, flinging them high into the air and killing them instantly, police said.

One of the workers was seen being slammed into the Sharjah taxi windscreen before he was thrown onto the road.

"They were holding hands and running," said one passing motorits. "The two had safely passed the three lanes. The taxi hit them at the last lane," he said.

The Sonapur labour accomodation is near the scene of the accident and workers are usually seen running across the highway as there is no pedestrian bridge.

Dubai Police reiterated a call to motorists to adhere to traffic rules as more than 300 people were killed in more than 3,000 accidents in the 11 months of this year.

According to statistics from Dubai Police's Traffic Department, 302 people have been killed in 3,010 traffic accidents during this year alone compared to 312 deaths in 2006.

Statistics reveal that a lack of consideration by road users was the main reason behind most road deaths, which claimed the lives of 106 people, most of them pedestrians. Seventy three people were killed due to speeding and 34 people lost their lives due to sudden swerving.

Brigadier Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of Dubai Police's Traffic Department said many motorists still do not follow traffic rules and they are the reason behind the majority of traffic accidents and chaos on the roads.

He said that according to statistics, Emirates Ring Road has been the deadliest road in 2007 with 60 deaths, which conflicts with its nature of being a highway.

He said the main reason behind many accidents on this road is the presence of labour accommodations near the road. He said that despite the big role traffic patrols play in preventing pedestrians from crossing the road, there are still many accidents.

Preventative procedures

Brigadier Al Zafein said this is because labourers jump over the fence between the roads. As part of preventative procedures, it is banned to cross any road which has a speed limit of 80km/hr or more.

Brigadier Al Zafein expects deaths resulting from accidents to decline over the next year. He attributes collisions to reckless driving and speeding.

He pointed out that police will coordinate with the RTA to solve the problem and provide safe crossings for pedestrians in areas where a high number of accidents have been reported, especially close to labour accommodations.

According to statistics, 1,190 driving licences have been confiscated for reaching 12 black points in one year, while 257 licences are still wanted for confiscation since the beginning of this year until November.

The traffic department reported 1.18 million speeding offences caught by radars, in addition to 114,570 offences for blocking traffic and 63,865 offences for wrong parking.