Abu Dhabi pedestrians pay price for motorists' recklessness

Abu Dhabi: At least six fatalities have been reported in a spate of accidents over the past two days in the capital city alone.

Most of the victims were pedestrians hit while trying to cross the roads, say police.

A 23-year-old Emirati biker was killed on the spot early on Saturday.

"The accident happened at about 5am on the Airport Road-Al Nasr Street junction. The biker was speeding. He jumped the red signal and hit a mini bus. The bike was almost cut in half and the man was crushed to death," a rescue official who attended the case told Gulf News.

The bus rolled over after the collision and one person was badly injured.

At Saadiyat Island, a 36-year-old Indian man died around 7pm. "A loader and a mini bus collided. It is believed that the man jumped off the bus to avoid getting hurt. But he was hit by the truck as he did so and died instantly," said a traffic police official.

At 8.40pm on the same night, a 39-year-old Indian man was killed in Musaffah while trying to cross the road.

"The man was run over by a car driven by a 19-year-old UAE national." There was no pedestrian crossing as it was a highway, added the official.

In another accident on Saturday morning, four vehicles collided on Fourth Street. A UAE national was badly injured.

A senior rescue official said that several pedestrians were run over during the weekend. Two pedestrians - one Indian and one Chinese - were killed in Al Mafraq and one Pakistani man was killed in Tarif.

On Thursday, one man was killed in an accident involving three cars near Al Raha mall.

Workshop

At a recent workshop, Abu Dhabi Police warned that road fatalities in the UAE were assuming alarming proportions. Studies have shown that high speed is the main cause of human fatalities and property loss in the UAE. Notably, most of the victims were found to be young UAE nationals.

While 878 traffic deaths were recorded in 2006, the death toll rose to 1,056 in 2007, marking a 16.8 per cent hike.

The disturbing figure led to the amendment of the Federal Traffic Law imposing hefty penalties and black points on the driver's licence.