23% drop in accidents during Ramadan

Abu Dhabi witnessed a 23 per cent drop in number of accidents and related casualties during the period of Ramadan and Eid this year as compared to the corresponding period last year.

According to a Khaleej Times report, 198 accidents took place during the period this year, when there were 258 accidents in the same period last year.

“The drop in the number of traffic accidents during this year’s Ramadan and Eid holidays is encouraging. It is due to the effective ongoing road safety awareness campaigns,” Brigadier Hussein Ahmed Al Harthi, Director of the Abu Dhabi Traffic and Patrols Department, told the daily.

The traffic chief also attributed the drop in casualties to awareness campaigns.

“The drop in accidents contributed to the decline in the number of deaths in the period from 37 in 2010 to 25 this year. The number of injured also decreased from 48 to 36. We want to see further drop in road accidents and related casualties with intensified and continued safety awareness campaigns. The prime strategy and aim of the department are to make the emirate the safest for road users, and with greater public participation, we are convinced we will achieve this goal.”

He also thanked motorists and pedestrians for abiding by the road safety regulations.

The department is also set to get entry into the Guinness Book of World Records with the world largest road safety campaign in October this year.

Al Harthi, who heads the preparatory committee for the campaign, said: “The preparations have already started to enter Abu Dhabi emirate into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world largest safety campaign.

“We will have a safety lecture for an audience of 5,000 people under a single roof. A painting competition with participants portraying their artworks with a message how to make our roads safer is also part of the campaign.

‘‘We are targeting 50,000 competitors from across the country to take part in the competition with attractive prizes to win.”

The department has already applied for registering the campaign in Guinness book.

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