Under the Slogan “Road Safety Management and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)”

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Wednesday, November 4th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

Under the patronage of Lt. General H.H Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and President Emeritus of the Emirates Traffic Safety Society (ETSS), Lt. General Saif Abdullah Al Sha’far, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior launched on Wednesday, the International Conference on Traffic Safety. The conference is organized by the Emirates Traffic Safety Society under the slogan “Road safety management and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)” in collaboration with the Arab Organization for Traffic Safety; the International Road safety Organization (La Prévention Routière Internationale ‘PRI’); and the joint Safety and Traffic Solutions Committee (STSC). The two-day event is held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Abu Dhabi.

The conference’s opening ceremony was attended by Mohammed Saleh bin Badwa Al Darmaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Emirates Traffic Safety Society; Joob Goos, President of “PRI”; Afif al Fariqi, President of the Arab Organization for Traffic Safety; Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC); along with a large number of police officers and other entities concerned with traffic safety.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Mohammed Saleh bin Badwa Al Darmaki said “It is my great pleasure and honor to welcome all of you to this conference, which is organized by the Emirates Traffic Safety Society (ETSS), under the patronage of Lt. General H.H Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; President Emeritus of ETSS. We extend our deepest thanks and appreciation for His Highness’s patronage and support to our endeavors aimed at promoting traffic safety, and reducing the resulting human and material losses. We would also like to thank all public and private entities for their support in organizing the second edition of this conference.”

Al Darmaki continued: “We, at the ETSS, Arab Organization for Traffic Safety, and PRI, are keen to discuss important issues through our scientific activities, with the aim of finding appropriate solutions to the challenges facing various countries worldwide due to traffic accidents.” He added: “This conference is a valuable opportunity to review, study, and discuss the best practices, with the aim of transforming them into practical solutions that can be utilized in reality, in order to achieve the noble goals of providing road safety.”

Additionally, Al Darmaki stressed the importance of modern technologies and updated systems, and the need to keep pace with this massive evolution in technology to serve traffic safety. “Many developed countries have taken great strides in this area, which prompts us to avail and share these experiences, in order to implement the ones that better serve the reality of traffic in each country,” he pointed out.

Furthermore, Al Darmaki noted: “Under the directives of its wise leadership, the UAE has achieved great strides in the field of traffic safety. This is evident in the major projects being implemented in various parts of the country, which have yielded encouraging results, notably reducing traffic accidents and their resulting casualties and injuries. These projects include intensifying electronic monitoring of roads and linking the various concerned entities, which contributed to integrating the tasks carried out by these entities.”

In conclusion, Al Darmaki expressed his hope to see the conference come up with purposeful outcomes, by which researchers; lecturers; experts and specialists in traffic safety would “enrich our experiences with their ideas and enable us to disseminate them to all competent authorities for the benefit of all concerned.” He also expressed his wish for the participants to come up with valuable and practical recommendations that would support and reinforce international efforts aimed at achieving road safety worldwide.

In his address on this occasion, Joop Goos, Executive Director of the International Road safety Organization (La Prévention Routière International ‘PRI’), expressed his sincere thanks to the officials of the Emirates Traffic Safety Society (ETSS) for their good organization. He also highlighted the efforts exerted by PRI to enhance safety for all road users.

For his part, Afif Al-Fariki, President of the Arab Organization for Traffic Safety, extended his heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the UAE for hosting this Conference. “Traffic accidents have become a significant source of concern for all countries due to their tremendous human losses and social and economic impacts,” he said.

On the same note, Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), pointed out to the considerable efforts exerted by ETSC, and the actions undertaken to achieve the traffic safety and reduce fatalities. “The Conference will discuss important topics and issues that deal with road safety and intelligent transport systems,” he noted.

Following the opening ceremony speeches, the activities of the Conference began, and two sessions were held. The first session was chaired by Dr. Nasser Saif Al Mansoori, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Conference, Board Member of the Emirates Traffic Safety Society (ETSS). During this session, five work papers were reviewed and discussed. The first working paper was submitted by Brigadier Ghaith Hassan Al Zaabi, Director General, Traffic Coordination Directorate General at the Ministry of Interior, under the theme “Intelligent transport systems and their impact on traffic safety in the UAE”. The second paper submitted by Dr. Adnan Rahman, Director General of the Federal Roads Authority in Switzerland, discussed the road map for the use of intelligent transport systems for road safety management. The third paper was submitted by Ms. Shauna Meister, Research Coordinator at the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) in Canada and tackled the modern technologies in cars and their impact on drivers. Moreover, Major Engineer Yousuf Fahed Al Badi and Captain Engineer Abdullah Hamad Al Ghafli from the Abu Dhabi Police GHQ submitted a fourth paper, shedding light on the role of smart systems and big data in improving traffic safety. The fifth paper was submitted by Dr. John Fletcher of the British Transport Research Laboratory, and dealt with the subject of the International Road Assessment Program (IRAP): Automated Road Infrastructure Safety Management.

The second session was headed by Jose Miguel Trigoso, Chairman of the Portuguese Council for Accidents Prevention, and included the presentation of six work papers. The first paper was submitted by Mrs. Tiffany Aurora, Director of Communications at the US Youth Organization, and tackled the topic of the youth and misuse of modern technology; and the second paper was presented by Engineer Hussein Ahmed bin Ghalita from Dubai Police and tackled the modern techniques in providing traffic safety.

The third paper shed the light on performance indicators in traffic safety: case study of the progress made in this field by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC); and was presented by Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of ETSC. Dr. Peter Silverano from the Belgian Road Safety Institute presented the fourth paper titled “Cell Phone Use while Driving”; while Engineer Hamad Adel Al Afifi, Acting Head of the Traffic and Technology Department – Highways Section – at the joint Safety and Traffic Solutions Committee (STSC) in Abu Dhabi, presented the fifth paper titled “Smart Traffic Management in Abu Dhabi”.

 The last paper tackled the use of unmanned drones in traffic and roads safety: current applications and future possibilities; and was submitted by Professor Dr. Francisco Alonso, Head of Research Institute in Valencia University.

The conference will continue on Thursday for the second consecutive day, and will discuss a number of work papers submitted by experts of traffic safety. Towards the end of the conference, attendees will issue and announce the final recommendations reached.

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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)-50-666-4891

E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com

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