Safety drive targets Dubai lorry drivers
High number of fines prompt initiative by Dubai Police and RTA
More than 30,000 fines were issued to lorry drivers in Dubai in the first six months of this year for not abiding by road rules.
Police yesterday launched a one-month lorry driver safety campaign in an attempt to reduce the number of serious accidents and deaths involving heavy goods vehicles. So far this year there have been 14 serious accidents and 15 deaths involving HGVs on Dubai roads.
A lack of discipline, use of worn-out tyres and fatigue are major factors being addressed by the campaign, which is being run by Dubai Police’s traffic department and the Roads and Transport Authority.
The fines total amounts to about a fine for every second lorry registered in Dubai.
“Lorry drivers who drive for long hours and ignore rest areas will cause major accidents,” said Col Essam Al Awr, director of the fine section and traffic services at Dubai Police.
“Fifteen people have died during the first half of this year. Last year, 40 lorry crashes resulted in 49 deaths, compared with 29 fatalities in 25 accidents in 2015.
“There were 30,664 fines issued during the first half of this year, while 30,785 fines were issued last year, compared with 24,255 fines in 2015.”
Col Al Awr said such traffic offences could lead to the death of lorry drivers, their passengers and other commuters.
“Several sessions will be conducted with lorry drivers in break areas to educate them about traffic safety and the new fines,” he said.
The new fines will be highlighted in pamphlets. Among them is a Dh1,500 fine for HGV drivers who do not stick to their lane, Dh1,000 for entering prohibited areas or roads designated for other vehicles and Dh5,000 for parking on the road or in prohibited areas.
Col Al Awr said the road-safety campaign will be carried out in three phases.
“The first will target the drivers of lorries positioned in rest areas in Al Muhaisnah, around the vegetable market and Al Khawaneej,” he said.
“The second phase will target drivers at RTA registration centres, while the third will be dedicated to issuing fines to truck drivers breaching the new traffic rule amendments.”
Police said they had received about 500 complaints against lorry drivers through the Dubai Police app last year and that 17 lorry licences had been withdrawn in the first six months of this year.
Adel Al Marzouqi, director of the right-of-way department at the RTA, said 1,000 to 1,200 lorries pass along Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road during peak hours each day.
“There are 66,864 lorries that belong to 6,100 companies registered in Dubai,” he said.
Only two months ago seven people were killed and 35 others injured in a bus-lorry crash in Dubai. Police said the bus driver lost control after a tyre blow-out.
In March, a lorry driver was trapped in his vehicle after colliding with another vehicle on the Dubai-Al Ain road but police managed to rescue him and he lived.
In the same month another lorry driver was severely injured after he lost control and hit a lamppost on Al Dhaid Road in Sharjah. Police said the cause of the accident was speeding and sudden swerving.
In August last year an Emirati driver was killed and his two passengers seriously injured when a lorry crashed into their vehicle in Masafi. The Asian lorry driver took a fast U-turn without checking the road and caused the collision.
And in July last year, seven people were killed and 13 injured when a minibus ploughed into a stationary lorry in the middle of Emirates Road, near Al Maktoum Airport.
The lorry was stopped in the third lane from the right after crashing into a pickup.