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Discuss this article (21 Comments)Majority of road accident victims Emirati
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Saturday, 21 June 2008
ALARMING FIGURES: The majority of victims of car crashes in the UAE are young Emiratis, the DPE has said. Picture of illustrative purposes only. (Getty Images)
Most victims of road accidents in the United Arab Emirates are young Emiratis despite the fact that UAE nationals make up just 15 percent of the Gulf state's population, Abu Dhabi's Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) has revealed.
The DPE said on Saturday in its weekly report carried by state news agency WAM that the number of fatal road accidents in the UAE jumped 27 percent to 1,056 in 2007, up from 830 in 2005.
The department said one person dies every eight hours as a result of road accidents, blaming the high number of fatalities on speeding.
It said "most of those victims were young UAE nationals", without being more specific.
The department described the figures as "alarming".
The department said that around 25 out of every 100 people in UAE road accidents die.
The DPE said the fatality ratio was three times higher than in many Western counties.
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No Surpries there..............
Posted by jasoir, Dubai, UAE on Monday 30 June 2008 at 14:37 UAE time
Worrying statistics, however I am not surprised. This week I was tailgated, encountered the flashing lights, the sounding horn etc. It was frightening to see the irrational behaviour of this dark windowed white Lexus.
I could have switched lanes, but I was a little over the speed limit and had no intention of yielding to this illegal and inconsiderate driving. Finally the driver overtook and came level with me, wound the window down to which I ignored, eventually I glanced over to see a waving finger and shaking head by a policeman. A POLICEMAN!!!! I was prepared to be pulled over, however I was not and he sped away to continue his driving style on someone ahead of me.
How can driving violations be policed if this is acceptable from the upholders of the law?
I suggest CCTV policing of the road roads, which would be applicable to ALL drivers in the UAE so that the traffic laws, punishments and fines can be applied fairly. This will never happen if there are obvious exemptions and impartiality?
Posted by jasoir, Dubai, UAE on Monday 30 June 2008 at 14:37 UAE time
Worrying statistics, however I am not surprised. This week I was tailgated, encountered the flashing lights, the sounding horn etc. It was frightening to see the irrational behaviour of this dark windowed white Lexus.
I could have switched lanes, but I was a little over the speed limit and had no intention of yielding to this illegal and inconsiderate driving. Finally the driver overtook and came level with me, wound the window down to which I ignored, eventually I glanced over to see a waving finger and shaking head by a policeman. A POLICEMAN!!!! I was prepared to be pulled over, however I was not and he sped away to continue his driving style on someone ahead of me.
How can driving violations be policed if this is acceptable from the upholders of the law?
I suggest CCTV policing of the road roads, which would be applicable to ALL drivers in the UAE so that the traffic laws, punishments and fines can be applied fairly. This will never happen if there are obvious exemptions and impartiality?
The Police need to be seen to do more about this....
Posted by Concern, Dubai, UAE on Saturday 28 June 2008 at 11:21 UAE time
I am surprised at the statistic that most deaths on the road are Emirati. However, I am not in the least bit surprised that the number of deaths on the roads in Dubai is far higher than average.
When driving on the road there is a shocking amount of inconsideration in the driving behaviour that can be seen. I see drivers driving with a different behaviour in the UAE as to how they would drive in their home country. Unfortunately, it would seem that if you can be seen to easily get way with such driving, the behaviour becomes contagious and effectively others are encouraged to drive without consideration. In modern cars, it is easy to get a feeling of safety when travelling at speed but in my home country I know that if I go over the speed limit I stand a very high chance of getting caught and severely penalised and I am, therefore, not tempted to over speed.
You can't drive on Sheikh Zaieed Road for 5 minutes without seeing driving that would certainly land you with a hefty fine and points towards getting you totally banned in most Western Countries. I have been driving on the SZR almost everyday for the last 5 years and don’t believe that I am exaggerating. I wish I could just drive with a video camera on the bonnet of my car and just upload the footage for someone with the time to catalogue all the incidents and appropriately apprehend the culprits – alas, this is not practical (or legal).
We have a lot of well trained Police on the roads in Dubai and the government has the tools already in place to allow the Police to Warn, Fine, Ban or even Jail drivers.
The inconsiderate and reckless driving often happens within view of these Police but I have never, myself, seen the Police actually take action. There is currently too much bad driving for the Police to seemingly be able to handle and I get the impression that they do not try as hard as they should to win this particular battle. However, I believe that if the Police were seen to pull over the bad drivers and dish out the appropriate penalties, it will not just be the specific driver that was pulled over that got the warning but also every driver passing by. If the Police were to take this kind of action using unmarked cars fitted with sirens and flashing lights that could be used when needed, I believe we would see an even faster end to the contagiousness of the behaviour.
Posted by Concern, Dubai, UAE on Saturday 28 June 2008 at 11:21 UAE time
I am surprised at the statistic that most deaths on the road are Emirati. However, I am not in the least bit surprised that the number of deaths on the roads in Dubai is far higher than average.
When driving on the road there is a shocking amount of inconsideration in the driving behaviour that can be seen. I see drivers driving with a different behaviour in the UAE as to how they would drive in their home country. Unfortunately, it would seem that if you can be seen to easily get way with such driving, the behaviour becomes contagious and effectively others are encouraged to drive without consideration. In modern cars, it is easy to get a feeling of safety when travelling at speed but in my home country I know that if I go over the speed limit I stand a very high chance of getting caught and severely penalised and I am, therefore, not tempted to over speed.
You can't drive on Sheikh Zaieed Road for 5 minutes without seeing driving that would certainly land you with a hefty fine and points towards getting you totally banned in most Western Countries. I have been driving on the SZR almost everyday for the last 5 years and don’t believe that I am exaggerating. I wish I could just drive with a video camera on the bonnet of my car and just upload the footage for someone with the time to catalogue all the incidents and appropriately apprehend the culprits – alas, this is not practical (or legal).
We have a lot of well trained Police on the roads in Dubai and the government has the tools already in place to allow the Police to Warn, Fine, Ban or even Jail drivers.
The inconsiderate and reckless driving often happens within view of these Police but I have never, myself, seen the Police actually take action. There is currently too much bad driving for the Police to seemingly be able to handle and I get the impression that they do not try as hard as they should to win this particular battle. However, I believe that if the Police were seen to pull over the bad drivers and dish out the appropriate penalties, it will not just be the specific driver that was pulled over that got the warning but also every driver passing by. If the Police were to take this kind of action using unmarked cars fitted with sirens and flashing lights that could be used when needed, I believe we would see an even faster end to the contagiousness of the behaviour.
its the attitude that has be to changed
Posted by Raj on Thursday 26 June 2008 at 11:41 UAE time
Its very sad to know that most of the accident victims are locals and with such low population of theirs, each and every life is precious. I strongly feel that the attitude of the drivers (locals or expats) has to change to prevent such loss of life. In my experience, most of the dangerous driving generally happens on the fast tracks.
The sad part is people think that city roads also have varying speed tracks and keep flashing behind in left most tracks. They don't realize that all the lanes have same speed.
Posted by Raj on Thursday 26 June 2008 at 11:41 UAE time
Its very sad to know that most of the accident victims are locals and with such low population of theirs, each and every life is precious. I strongly feel that the attitude of the drivers (locals or expats) has to change to prevent such loss of life. In my experience, most of the dangerous driving generally happens on the fast tracks.
The sad part is people think that city roads also have varying speed tracks and keep flashing behind in left most tracks. They don't realize that all the lanes have same speed.
Locals of UAE are much better
Posted by Bilal Kardame, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Tuesday 24 June 2008 at 17:57 UAE time
Atleast the locals of UAE are much better than nationals from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia & Qatar. Most of them are very human in their approaches except the few incidence on the roads. But on overall basis, UAE is much better place than other Gulf Countries.
Posted by Bilal Kardame, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Tuesday 24 June 2008 at 17:57 UAE time
Atleast the locals of UAE are much better than nationals from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia & Qatar. Most of them are very human in their approaches except the few incidence on the roads. But on overall basis, UAE is much better place than other Gulf Countries.
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