Don't ban all ill drivers: Zafeen

Banning people suffering from certain illnesses from driving is not the solution, said Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police for Operational Affairs and Director of Federal Traffic Council.

He was rreferring to the tragic accident in which a 22-year-old Arab motorist who suffered an epileptic seizure while at the wheel of his car, and crashed into a restaurant on Sheikh Zayed Road in Ajman, resulting in the death of a 45-year-old Asian woman and a 9-year-old Arab child.

“Regarding this case in particular, first of all we have to make sure that at the time of the accident, this person was actually having an epileptic seizure attack. This must be proven before we go ahead and say we must ban those who have diabetes, epilepsy or any other illness from driving or not.”

Maj. Gen. Al Zafeen added that suffering from illnesses is not the main cause of most of the traffic accidents.

“In my opinion, there are many drivers who are healthy, but they end up in accidents and enter houses or shops and kill people due to reckless driving. Majority of them do not suffer from any illness.”

 He pointed out that it is very difficult to call to ban those who suffer from certain illnesses from driving because by doing this we will not solve the problem.

“Recent statistics shows that almost 30 per cent of the UAE population are diabetic, but with varying degrees. Some of them can manage to drive, but with certain medication. The same is applicable to epilepsy, as patients suffer from different degrees of epileptic seizures. If some drivers suffer from severe epilepsy condition, then they should not drive and declare their condition to the authorities. In these cases, they should get a driver or use public transport.”

 Maj. Gen. Al Zafeen added that the best solution for this issue is to oblige all the sufferers from certain illnesses to report their condition to traffic police or the authorities that are in charge of issuing driving licences.

“Then, these authorities and traffic police should have medical experts onboard who can issue guidelines and restrictions to these motorists after studying their medical conditions. For instance, the regulations could include that they should not exceed certain speed limit, or that they must have certain timings which they must follow. These people could also be banned from driving on certain areas and so on,” explained Maj. Gen. Al Zafeen.

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