211 Emirati youth die in crashes; Parents warned

More young Emiratis will continue to die in road accidents if their parents continue to be lenient about their reckless driving, according to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Saif Al Zaffin, director of the Dubai Traffic Police.

Maj. Gen. Al Zaffin was commenting on the results of a survey by Dubai-based Arabic daily newspaper Emarat Al Youm which identified three main reasons for the high mortality of young Emiratis in road accidents.

Click to read penalty on using phone while driving

48 per cent of the respondents of the survey felt that the main reason was the indulgence of parents towards their reckless children, followed by absence of deterrent penalties and lack of traffic awareness programmes. 22 per cent of those surveyed blamed weak laws while 30 per cent cited poor public awareness programmes. 8,000 readers of the newspaper took part in the survey.

Maj. Gen Al Zaffin said most accidents involving young Emiratis happened because of speeding. Young nationals often modify their car engines to increase their capacities, he added.

Read: Reckless driving leads to Emirati's death in Al Ain

Most national victims of accidents resulting from reckless driving are from the 18-25 age group and parents much focus their advice on this group, Al Zaffin said. But, instead of reprimanding them, Emirati parents often approach the traffic police with requests not to impound their children’s cars.

However, Al Zaffin disagreed with the newspaper’s readers that the UAE’s traffic laws are not tough enough. But he said the black points systems could be tightened.

Read: 3,600 drove at over 200kmph on Dubai roads

Al Zaffin said lack of public awareness could not be major reason for high deaths of Emirati youth on the road, saying Dubai Traffic Police conducts 12 traffic campaigns each year. Other emirates also conduct such campaigns frequently, he added.

According to Ministry of Interior statistics, 211 young Emiratis died in road accidents last year.  109 of them were from the 18-25 age group.

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