Road deaths in Dubai down in H1

Traffic deaths in Dubai dropped to 90 in the first half of the current year from 120 cases in the corresponding half of 2009. The traffic deaths index in Dubai fell from 7,11 per 100,000 people to less than 1 per 100,000.

Dubai is hoping to have a zero target in the next ten years, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazine, acting Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, said the marked decline in road death toll was attributed to tireless measures adopted by the traffic police to ensure safety of road users and protect their lives from reckless motorists, strict enforcement of the federal traffic law and rules with the aim of reducing road fatalities and heightened awareness and compliance of road users with traffic rules.

He noted that massive deployment of traffic patrols on roads had brought about good results and proven its efficiency.

''From January to June 2010, the traffic department in Dubai impounded 15,130 vehicles and seized 515 driving licences as against 21,238 vehicles and 808 driving licences in the same period in 2009,'' Al Mazina said during a meeting for assessing performance of the traffic department in the second quarter of the year.

Al Mazina noted that the Emirates Road and Sheikh Zayed Road were the most dangerous traffic arteries where 15 and 11 traffic deaths registered respectively in the first half of the current year against 12 and six deaths in the first half of the previous year.

In a presentation, Lt Colonel Saif Al Mazrouie, Acting Director of Traffic Department, said traffic accidents in Dubai in the first six months of the year sank to 164 from 206 in the same period last year.

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