485 killed on UAE roads in eight months

Road accidents killed 485 people in the UAE in the first eight months of 2011 but the casualties and the number of accidents were below those recorded in the same period of 2010, a senior police officer was reported on Monday as saying. 

The deaths were around 12 per cent below the 550 people killed in the first eight months of 2010 as a result of a decline in the number of accidents, said Brigadier Gaith Al Zaabi, traffic coordination chief at the ministry of interior. 

Quoted by the Arabic language daily Al-Bayan, he said 5,266 people were injured in road mishaps in the first eight months of 2011 compared with 5,905 while the number of accidents dropped by nine per cent to 4,442 from 4,911. 

“The decline in accidents was a result of an increase in police patrols, intensifying traffic awareness campaigns and stricter traffic rules, including the black point system,” he said. 

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