Abu Dhabi: Road-accidents fatalities across the United Arab Emirates dropped 18.4 per cent in the first half of this year as compared to the same period last year, according to statistics released on Sunday by Traffic Coordination Department of the Ministry of Interior.

Some 315 people died in road accidents in the first six months of this year while 386 motorists lost their lives in accidents last year in the same period.

Traffic officials, meanwhile, said that injuries stemming from road accidents in the first six months of this year declined by 12.5 per cent to 3,015 as compared to 3,447 road-accident injuries for the same period last year.

In general, road accidents also fell by 15.4 per cent this year in the UAE.

About 2,133 road accidents occurred in the first six months of this year, compared to 2,520 during the same period in 2016.

Brigadier Ghaith Hassan Al Zaabi, director general of Traffic Coordination at the Ministry of Interior, said the drop in road accidents and fatalities is the result of awareness drives and measures adopted by the ministry.

He attributed most of deaths and injuries to speeding, tailgating, sudden turns, swerving of vehicles and breaking traffic rules.

The ministry aims to bring down the road fatalities by three persons per 100,000 of residents by 2021, Brigadier Al Zaabi said.

Sudden turns, he said, led to death of 63 people, lack of assessment of road users 56, Speeding 37, not leaving enough distance 37 deaths while inattentiveness claimed lives of 30 motorists.

Not staying in designated lane led to death of 18 people, entering the street before making sure it was free caused the death of 13 people, reverse direction 12 people and driving without a licence led to 11 deaths.

As many as 38 people died for other traffic-related causes.

Brigadier Al Zaabi urged motorists to abide by traffic rules and protect their lives and help save lives of other road users.

He pointed out that traffic accidents are closely related to the population and the urban extension in the country, as one of the most important requirements of economic and social development, in addition to increasing the number of people wishing to obtain driving licences.

brigadier Al Zaabi said the number of all kinds of accidents dropped this year.

The number of crashes reduced by 15.9 per cent to 1,389 incidents in the first six months of 2017 as compared with 1,651 during the same period last year.

Vehicle rollovers dropped 23.2 per cent with 209 accidents recorded in the first half of the year, down from 272 cases in the same period last year.