162 drivers fined for blocking emergency vehicles last year

POLICE PLANNING TO USE PATROL CAR VIDEO FEED TO NAB ERRING DRIVERS AND ISSUE FINES

Many Dubai motorists do not give way to emergency vehicles, police officials said during the launch of an awareness campaign yesterday.

Brig Omar Al Shamsi, deputy director of the operations department, said Dubai Police recorded 162 cases of people not giving way to emergency vehicles in 2015, an increase from 121 in 2014 and 81 in 2013.

“I am sure the number has risen this year. That is why we need to make sure that motorists move out of the way when they see emergency vehicles, especially ambulances, as they can be risking someone’s life if they do not,” he said.

He said every second is precious while responding to emergencies and any delay could cost someone’s life. “People should put themselves in those people’s shoes, it could be them tomorrow in that ambulance.”

Brig Al Shamsi said police are now planning to use video feed from cameras on police cars to fine motorists who fail to give way or obstruct emergency vehicles. “We will review the footage later and issue the fines as the officer responding to the emergency does not have time to do it on the spot. We hope ambulances take similar measures, by adding cameras to their vehicles,” he said.

The fine for not giving way to emergency vehicles is Dh500 and four black points on their driver’s licence. “We have also suggested to the Federal Traffic Council that the penalty be made more severe,” Brig Al Shamsi said.

It needs to be part of people’s culture to give way to emergency vehicles, he said.

Khalifa Bin Derai, executive director of Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, said that ambulance workers face this issue all the time.

“Once an Emirati man called me and told me that he was following the ambulance transporting his mother, and noticed that it was going slow. He told me he drove ahead of the vehicle and saw a car that was not giving way to the ambulance. When he sounded the horn and asked the car to give way, the man gestured with his hand as if saying ‘so what’, and refused to move,” he said.

Message on social media

The two-week campaign will focus on spreading awareness of the importance of giving way to emergency vehicles across social media.

Dubai Police and Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services have signed agreements with private hospitals to transport patients to the nearest hospital to ensure lives are saved.