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29 March 2024

394 killed on UAE roads in H1

Published
By Staff

Road accidents killed 394 people in the UAE in the first half of 2011 while nearly 2.88 million traffic offences were committed during that period, a senior police officer was reported on Wednesday as saying.

Both the number of casualties and offences were far lower than those in the first half of 2010 and the decline was a result of intensified efforts by the traffic police to bring discipline to the country’s roads, said Major General Khamis Matar Al Muzainah, Dubai’s acting police commander.

His figures showed 415 people were killed in road mishaps in the first half of 2010 while 3.4 million traffic offences were recorded.

“Revenue collected from traffic offences is just a drop in the sea compared with the funds spent by the country on road infrastructure and public utilities,” he said, quoted by the Dubai-based Arabic language daily Albayan.

“We are intensifying our efforts to curb accidents by increasing road patrols and installing more speed cameras and such measures are paying off…the aim of those cameras is to deter reckless drivers who do not care for others.”

Muzainah said the number of road mishaps in the UAE declined by around six per cent to 3,450 in the first half of 2011, resulting in 4,105 injuries, compared with 3,819 accidents resulting in 4,480 injuries in the first half of 2010.

Muzainah dismissed criticism by some drivers about the large number of police cameras on the grounds such devices “target those who do not respect traffic laws and who can avoid the cameras simply by abiding by the law.”

“We call on those reckless drivers to alter their wrong traffic habits and culture when on the road…those who suffer from an accumulation of traffic fines should adhere to the traffic rules and use the money paid for fines in useful things.”