Illegal Crossing: Dubai road deaths up

Deaths on Dubai’s roads soared by nearly 30 per cent in the first four months of 2016 because of drivers’ negligence and rising illegal crossing incidents by pedestrians, the emirate’s traffic police chief was reported on Tuesday as saying.

Traffic accidents killed 64 people in the first four months of 2016 compared with 49 in the same period of last year, Colonel Saif Al Mazroui said.

He told the Arabic language daily Emarat Al youm that police issued more than 30,000 offences against pedestrians not using marked crossings on various roads despite intensified efforts by authorities to ensure compliance with such crossings.

“These people are still risking their lives by making the wrong crossing on roads, which have a speed limit of at least 80 kph,” he said, adding that the figure is much higher than the 67,000 offences committed in the same period of last year.

Mazroui’s figures showed there were also at least 18,000 offences involving failure by drivers to leave enough distance with other cars and 10,000 offences by cars stopping unjustifiably in the middle of the road.

Mazroui said police also issued 21,000 fines against motorists using mobile phones while driving in the first four months of 2016, adding that such offences have become a major cause of accidents on the emirate’s roads.

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