Dubai: The myth that women drive worse than men has been busted, according to new statistics revealed by Dubai Police.
In a report published on Thursday, Dubai Police confirmed the number of fatal accidents caused by women decreased by 66.6 per cent during the period from January 1 to September 30, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of the Traffic Department at Dubai Police, said female drivers caused 91 traffic accidents, which led to the death of three people and 129 injured in 2019, and a decrease from 2018 in where 120 traffic accidents were reported, in addition to nine deaths and 182 injured.
Statistics published in the Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm further indicated that women accounted for 9.4 per cent of total accidents in the emirate of Dubai, and in terms of the traffic death index, were responsible for 3.2 per cent of fatal traffic accidents.
While men are considered to be more dangerous on the roads due to their tendency for speed, reckless behavior or performing stunts on roads, women generally break traffic rules as they tend to get distracted while driving, police said.
According to the traffic law by the UAE Ministry of Interior, female drivers who are caught applying makeup or brushing their hair while driving will be fined Dh800 with four black points against their driving licence.
In August, the Ministry of Interior reported that the number of road traffic deaths in the UAE had fallen by 34.2 per cent in five years, down from 712 in 2014 to 468 in 2018.
Statistics also indicated that the number of serious traffic accidents decreased by 24.1 per cent, down from 4,895 in 2014 to 3,712 in 2018, despite a significant increase in the number of vehicles on the nation’s roads.
The ministry said that the UAE has achieved one of the highest levels of global traffic safety in recent years by reducing the number of accidents and resulting deaths, while making great strides towards meeting the national index, which is set to reduce mortality to three per 100,000 by 2021.
