Severe injuries declined by 34 percent

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Saturday, February 14th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

Newly released figures from the Traffic and Patrols Directorate at Abu Dhabi Police showed a significant improvement in the levels of traffic safety in Abu Dhabi in 2014 compared to last year. The number of traffic accident fatalities declined by 8%, from 289 in 2013 to 267 in 2014 and severe injuries decreased by 34%, from 366 2013 to 240 in 2014.The rate of fatalities has improved per 10,000 vehicles by 15%. Traffic accidents decreased overall by 10%, from 2071 to 1861, despite the number of registered vehicles and drivers increasing by 9% over the period.

Brigadier Eng. Hussein Ahmed Al Harithi, Director of Traffic and Patrols Directorate at Abu Dhabi Police, attributed the improvement in traffic safety levels to the directorate’s efforts in implementing the long-term strategic plan that includes 6 key pillars, known as 6E+I. The five-year  integrated plan, which focuses on traffic control, educational and awareness campaigns, road engineering development, rapid emergency response and healthcare, and continuous evaluation of  outcomes  and performance indicators; and community partnership. Several initiatives have been implemented as a part of this plan, in addition to an integrated speed management strategy, increasing enforcement and automated traffic control devices, and developing a system to identify motorists who jump red lights.

Brigadier Eng. Al Harithi reviewed the key positive results achieved during the past year, which include a decrease in the number of deaths due to sudden swerving by 47% from 73 to 39; deaths that occurred due to failure to leave sufficient distance between vehicles decreased by 49%, from 43 to 22 deaths; the number of fatalities that occurred due to not ensuring the path is clear before entering a road decreased by 43% from 14 to 8 deaths; neglect and lack of attention led to a decrease in the number of deaths by 17% from 12 to 10; and the number of deaths caused by fatigue and drowsiness decreased by 44% from 9 to 5 deaths.

He also indicated that statistics have shown that traffic accidents on the 10 most dangerous roads in the emirate of Abu Dhabi have registered a decrease of 11%, from 645 accidents in 2013 to 575 accidents in 2014. Statistics also showed a decrease in traffic fatalities on the same roads by 23% from 156 in 2013 to 120 in 2014 and severe injuries decreased by 40%. The 10 most dangerous roads in Abu Dhabi are  Abu Dhabi - Al Sila Road, Abu Dhabi - Al Ain Road, Al Ain - Dubai Road, Abu Dhabi - Al Ain Truck Road, Gayathi Road, the new Madinat Zayed Road, Abu Dhabi - Dubai Truck Road, International Airport Road, Hameem Street and Sweihan Road.

Moreover, the Director of Traffic and Patrols Directorate tackled the most important causes of traffic accidents during 2014. “Over speeding, neglect, and lack of attention on the road were the main causes of traffic accidents recorded last year, as they were each responsible for 16 per cent of the number of total accidents.  Sudden swerving caused 15% of accidents; failure to maintain a safe distance between vehicles caused 12 % of accidents; and running red lights caused 8% of accidents,”, he said. He also pointed out that the directorate has endeavored consistently to identify the causes and consequences traffic accidents periodically in order to take the necessary measures in support of the continuous improvement of traffic safety indicators.

Elaborating further, Brigadier Eng. Al Harithi noted that Asian drivers caused 38% of traffic accidents, while Emirati nationals caused 34% of the accidents and Arab drivers caused 19% of traffic accidents in Abu Dhabi. Approximately 47% of traffic accidents were caused by young drivers aged between 18 and 30 years; which require pursuing additional efforts to enhance traffic awareness and education among this age group.”

Adding further, Brigadier Eng. Al Harithi also shed the light on the continuous efforts that led to these results and improving traffic safety, notably intensifying traffic awareness among drivers in both public and private sectors as well as in the education sector. “A total of 37,797 drivers have benefited from 372 traffic awareness lectures as well as the traffic awareness councils for citizens. A total of eight councils have been organized in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, benefiting around 570 citizens,” he continued.

Moreover, Al Harithi referred to the ongoing traffic awareness activities implemented as a part of the “Together” campaign, the Abu Dhabi Traffic’s program to reduce traffic accidents. He explained that the number of awareness messages via Facebook have benefitted as many as 10,793,465 individuals; the program had 151,500 followers via Facebook; the number of people who interacted with the messages on Twitter amounted to 1,650,131 users; the number of followers on twitter totaled 28,464 followers; and the number tweets on Twitter during the same period amounted to approximately 5,149 tweets. He added that the new hashtag #DriveSafelyUAE #"was also launched as a part of the campaign, within the framework of the Abu Dhabi Traffic’s programs to reduce traffic accidents, in order to spread traffic awareness among the various society segments.

Additionally, Brigadier Eng. Al Harithi stressed the directorate’s keenness to intensify traffic control by increasing the number of traffic patrols, traffic investigation civil patrols, and radars. He indicated that as a result of these efforts, the directorate has seized 4,775 vehicles for driving at dangerous speeds, exceeding 200 Km/h on both internal and external roads. It also revoked 6,468 driving license from reckless drivers for three months for committing multiple traffic-related offences and exceeding the cumulative total of 24 black points in order to achieve the highest levels of safety on roads.

In conclusion, Brigadier Eng. Al Harithi urged all segments of society to adhere to the traffic laws and designated speeds on both internal and external roads. He stressed the need to boost these efforts in order to maintain human wealth, out of the firm belief that people are the pillar and the cornerstone of any nation, and protecting people against traffic accidents and their resulting deaths, severe injuries and negative social impacts is the key to preserving the State’s future progress and development.

Sunday and Thursday Accidents

Brigadier Eng. Al Harithi revealed that Sunday and Thursday are the most days of the week that witness traffic accidents. The total number of accidents that occurred on Thursday amounted to 17% of the total number of accidents, followed by 16% on Sunday. He pointed out that the statistics revealed that the time of the day that witnesses the highest number of traffic accidents is that between 4 pm and 8 pm.

Statistics also revealed that the day that witnesses the highest level of traffic violations is Wednesday, with 16% of the total number of violations committed during the week. It is worth mentioning that the rate of traffic violations increased during the period from 8 am to 12 pm.

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The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

Contacts

The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department

Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media

Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317

E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com

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