Eid holidays saw a huge increase in road deaths

Ras Al Khaimah: During the Eid Al Adha and UAE National Day holidays, ten people died and 115 people sustained injuries in 879 road accidents.

According to official statistics released by the Traffic and Licensing Department yesterday, the 13-day vacation had far more accidents than expected.

A total of 10 people lost their lives in road accidents in various areas of Ras Al Khaimah while injuries were classified as both moderate and serious.

Worst statistics

A senior officer at the department said the worst accident was on RAK International Airport's Al Saedi Street where three were killed instantly and another was pronounced dead at Saqr Hospital later.

The officer said that a total of 92 people of various nationalities lost their lives in road accidents in RAK since the beginning of this year.

But only 68 people were killed in road accidents in RAK last year, an increase of 35.3 per cent.

According to statistics, 64 of the deceased were expatriates and 28 were Emiratis.

The officer attributed the drastic increase in road casualties to the failure of drivers to adhere to traffic regulations and the massive increase in the number of vehicles on the streets.

The officer added that during the vacation, police patrols issued 163 violations to drivers who directly violated traffic rules and regulations.

Authorities aware

He stressed that the number of accidents on the roads this year should alert the authorities to the fact that serious steps must be taken to minimise the growing tragedy on the streets.

He added that the authorities will study these statistics to come up with creative ways to reduce the road accidents, especially fatal accidents.

The officer added that these statistics clearly show that drivers are guilty of a large amount of reckless driving, hitting pedestrians as drivers do not stick to a single lane.

The failure of drivers to leave enough distance between vehicles on the street, the failure of drivers to observe traffic flow, especially when coming from side roads onto main streets, are factors listed as major driver failings.

They also fail to check their tyres as indicated by the dramatic increase in burst tyres.