Dubai: A security guard, Lil Bahador Pariyar, of a Dubai school died after being hit by a car outside the school on Monday afternoon, Gulf News has learnt. A source informed Gulf News that he died in the hospital at 4.20pm the same day.
The guard was on duty outside the gates of the Universal American School (UAS) in Festival City when the incident occurred. He lost his life protecting school children crossing the road from a speeding vehicle.
A Dubai Police source confirmed the accident.
A statement from the school said: “An unfortunate incident took place outside the school gates of UAS on Monday afternoon which sadly resulted in the passing of one of our security guards. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the security guard and the rest of the security team at this difficult time and we are offering our full support.”
School community shocked
The incident has left the school community shocked. One student told Gulf News, “I’m not sure where the guard was from, but he was always very genuine and loved striking conversations with people. The accident was terrible.”
“A parent was coming to pick up her kids and she drove up over the curb, hit the stop sign and ran into the security guard. The guard ended up dying before the ambulance reached the scene,” one source alleged.
“The gate was open and the guard was by the sign,” the student claimed.
School Zone safety
The safety of school children and others around school zones is top priority for the authorities.
Police in the UAE regularly issue warnings to motorists, cautioning them against violating traffic rules in areas located near schools and pedestrian crossings.
Drivers are constantly reminded not to overtake other vehicles or change lanes when in schools zones or at crosswalks. Rules also require them to slow down and be careful when entering and exiting school zones, give way to school buses, allow pupils the right of way at zebra crossings and to not speed in school zones.
Failure to follow the stop sign of school buses leads to a Dh1,000 fine and 10 black points, according to the UAE’s Federal Traffic Law, which came into effect on July 1, 2017. The law also includes a fine of Dh500 and six black points against school bus drivers who fail to open the stop sign.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) too started the new academic year on September 1, with awareness events targeting students and motorists. Technical teams from RTA monitored traffic at school zones and adjusted traffic lights to ease traffic movement in nearby areas.
The objective of the events was to keep schools free from traffic accidents and maintain an “eight-year record of zero traffic fatalities within school zones”.
