Workers are dicing with death on roads

DUBAI // Labourers are risking, and losing, their lives while trying to cross busy roads, especially those in industrial areas, Dubai Police said.

Twenty-three men were killed last year as they ran across roads close to accommodations, factories and warehouses in Al Quoz, Al Qusais and Jebel Ali. The majority were Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis.

“Despite the many awareness campaigns that we launch, especially targeting labourers, we still see irresponsible people that put themselves in danger,” said Brig Saif Al Mazroui, director of the General Department of Traffic at Dubai Police.

In an effort to prevent such accidents, which claimed 17 deaths in 2015 and 19 in 2014, police stepped up patrols of industrial areas. Last year, officers fined 66,122 people Dh200 each for jaywalking.

In total, there were 197 fatalities on the emirate’s roads last year, up from 166 in 2015, something Dubai Police aim to change.

“A key objective is to reduce the traffic mortality rate to zero by the year 2020,” said Brig Al Mazroui, adding that the Cross Safely campaign aimed to encourage all pedestrians, but workers in particular, to use designated road crossings.

“We recently launched an initiative to honour and reward people who cross roads safely, especially labourers,” said Brig Al Mazroui.

“We will honour workers who cross roads from designated areas. We will cooperate with companies to choose workers who cross the roads from these spots to encourage their colleagues to follow suit.”

Brig Al Mazroui urged pedestrians to abide by traffic rules and cooperate with police to cut road deaths.