Dubai RTA launches new school-year drive to keep students safe on the road
Awareness push targets parents, students and drivers to protect school journeys
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a series of awareness programmes and activities for school students, parents, and drivers, coinciding with the start of the 2026–2027 academic year this week.
The initiatives form part of RTA’s annual traffic awareness plan, aimed at promoting safe road behaviour, raising awareness of traffic accident causes in school zones, and reinforcing traffic safety principles. They also align with the nationwide “Traffic Safety for School Students” awareness campaign led by the Ministry of Interior.
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RTA urged parents and drivers to:
exercise caution when driving around schools,
adhere to designated speed limits,
avoid improper and double parking,
unsafe overtaking,
use designated areas for dropping off and picking up students, and
be vigilant at pedestrian crossings and around school buses.
Hussain Al Banna, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said: “School students are among the key target groups in RTA’s traffic awareness plans, particularly given the growing number of students in Dubai. We therefore seek to instil a culture of safety from the early school years, with awareness messages and programmes tailored to students’ age and educational level, preparing them to become young, independent road users.”
He noted that during the 2025–2026 academic year, RTA conducted a survey involving more than 20,000 parents. Of those surveyed, 91 per cent confirmed that they use designated student drop-off and pick-up areas in school zones, while 71 per cent said they were fully aware of the rules governing the drop-off and pick-up of students.
The survey also found that 44 per cent of students travel by school bus and around 47 per cent by private vehicle, while the remainder walk to school or use public transport or individual and shared mobility options.
Al Banna noted that RTA’s awareness and engineering efforts, undertaken in collaboration with government and private-sector partners, have played a key role in maintaining a record of zero traffic fatalities at Dubai schools in recent years. He added that Dubai schools have recorded zero traffic fatalities since 2010.
Role of family
He stressed the important role of families in instilling safe road behaviour in children, urging parents to lead by example by complying with traffic rules, wearing seat belts, respecting pedestrian crossings and speed limits, and refraining from using mobile phones while driving.
Al Banna added: “Our awareness messages are not limited to students; they also target parents, drivers and those working within the school environment. A student’s safety on the daily journey to and from school is a shared responsibility that begins at home and extends to the road, the school bus and the area surrounding the school.”
Do this, not that
He urged parents to:
plan the school journey in advance ,
allow sufficient time to avoid rushing and congestion.
not to drop students off in the middle of the road or at undesignated locations,
avoid double parking outside schools,
reduce speed and exercise caution when entering school zones,
to be prepared to stop at pedestrian crossings,
to remain alert to children who may suddenly emerge from between parked vehicles, and
to avoid using mobile phones or other distractions while driving.
With the start of the new academic year, RTA will resume a range of awareness programmes and initiatives tailored to different educational levels. These include the “Hello, My School” programme for kindergarten and primary school students, the “Golden Rules for Generations’ Safety” programme, and the “Virtual Driving Licence” programme for secondary-school students. RTA will also participate in school events.
The programmes present traffic safety concepts through simple, interactive approaches tailored to students’ ages. They cover safe road crossing, the use of pedestrian crossings, wearing seat belts, proper behaviour when boarding and exiting from vehicles and school buses, and avoiding danger zones around buses and vehicles. They also promote greater awareness and responsibility when using the road.
In parallel, RTA continues to implement traffic and engineering improvements around schools, including upgrades to entry and exit points, pedestrian crossings, traffic-calming measures, and road signs and markings. These improvements complement the awareness programmes and provide a safer traffic environment for students, parents and other road users.
RTA also continues to enhance its awareness tools and make greater use of digital and interactive content to engage students. This includes educational materials and giveaways featuring QR codes and digital links that direct users to visual content, designs and awareness messages, making traffic safety information more engaging, accessible and easier to remember.
