RTA campaigns lead to zero fatalities near schools

Children under the age of 18 do not have a driving license, and a pregnant woman does not have a child. Yet, children, mothers, and mothers-to-be are the focus of the coercive efforts of the authorities in Dubai to raise a safe traffic generation.

In front of the delegations from Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) presented the statistics of the fatalities on the road in Dubai; numbers that had impressively decreased over the last three years.

The number of fatalities on the road in the age group of 1-18 decreased by 41 per cent from 2010-2013. Fatal traffic accidents caused by women decreased by 46 per cent over the same period.

Fatal traffic accidents involving school buses decreased by 46 per cent from 2010-2013, and over the last three years the number of fatalities on school premises has remained zero.

The statistics are partly the result of a targeted awareness campaign dubbed Generations Safety, a Shared Responsibility, carried out by the RTA, Dubai Police, Emirates Transport and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

“We are focusing on the youth because they are the coming generation. They are the most important element in the society,” said Hussein Banna, Director of the Traffic Department at RTA. “If we create a society that is very well educated in traffic safety aspects, these will be very well aware road users when they get a driving license.”

Traffic to the classroom

According to statistics from Dubai Police, the majority of road injuries involve people from the age group 18-35. In 2013, an estimated 1,568 road injuries occurred amongst people in this category, a figure representing 62% of all road traffic injuries in this emirate. Nearly half of pedestrian accidents involved people from this age group.

Education can, therefore, never start too early. According to Al Banna, traffic education should be an important part of a schools’ curriculum, something which is increasingly the case. In 227 schools in Dubai dedicated traffic awareness programmes are at place.

“There are educated trainers who teach children about the traffic rules and traffic signs. There are the traffic villages in some schools, where children experience traffic situations. Recently we had students conduct researches on topics that we picked, like speeding, or the use of seat belts. They came up with some very good ideas,” commented Al Banna.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Education the RTA has researched the curriculum of schools in Dubai, investigating how much time and effort is dedicated to traffic safety issues. Schools that stand out are rewarded for these efforts, he explained.

“As the government entities we also add things to these curriculums. Dubai Police may add subjects related to law enforcement, where we would bring in aspects regarding to traffic engineering. Rules on how to maintain a safe area around the school and how to get on and off the school bus are also taught in schools.”

A safe environment for the child

Equally important is the education of those involved with children. Although numbers have decreased significantly, 7 children between the age of 1-18 died in traffic 2012. Ten years earlier this number was 21. Overall, the number of traffic accidents among the youth accounts for more than 30 per cent, said Al Banna.

The focus of the authorities has specifically been on the area around the school. All schools have been through an extensive engineering programme with the main aim of slowing down traffic.  A total of 1058 such measures have been implemented, such as speed bumps, traffic signals, and pedestrian crossings. “All schools must comply, and when a new school opens these are the requirements,” explained al Banna.

School bus transportation has been a focus area to which Emirates Transport has largely contributed, as the partner is responsible for the transportation for most of the pupils and students in Dubai. School bus drivers and attendants must undergo extensive training, which was successfully completed by over 17 thousand newcomers in 2013.

Read the earlier story about school bus safety here:

“However, we as authorities cannot do all of this alone. We need the participation of the parents,” said Al Banna. “We focus on the mother, even when the mother is still pregnant with her child. We educate her about the importance of child seats in the car and about seat belts, for example.

Regarding the law on child seats in the car, he said that a law amendment would soon be realised, with the Federal Traffic Council discussing the possibility of mandatory child seats for children under a certain age.

See earlier story about child seats here:

The campaign kicked off three years ago, when the authorities realised that the key to success would be their cooperation. Since then, more than 74 awareness publications were prepared and more than 700,000 copies were printed, including "Salama", the monthly magazine, in addition to educative cartoons and awareness flashes aired via children-oriented satellite channels, websites and e-forums.

Yesterday, delegations from the Gulf state visited the emirate to witness a presentation from the RTA about the initiative and about the public parking system and Salik toll gates.

At the same event, 8 schools that had participated in the traffic safety campaign competition were awarded money prices ranging from Dh8-12 thousand.

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