Distracted drivers may be cause of fatal crash
Three people were killed and 44 injured in an accident involving a bus, a lorry, a minivan and a car in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Police received a call about a crash on the inbound road at Al Shawamekh Bridge at 7.30am.
A bus heading from Khalifa City A towards Mussaffah crashed into a Nissan Patrol, which then hit a minivan.
All three drivers survived the accident, but three labourers on the bus were killed after a metal roadside barrier penetrated the side of the vehicle. Forty-four labourers were injured.
The bus driver told police that a lorry appeared in front of him and, as he swerved to avoid it, he crashed into the Nissan Patrol.
The Emirati driver of the Nissan also tried to avoid the crash but hit the minivan.
Brig Gen Salem Al Dhaheri, head of exterior roads at Abu Dhabi traffic police, said that initial investigations found the bus driver had been speeding because the vehicle “flipped once, twice, a third time, and on the fourth flip landed straight up on its tyres”.
He said police were able to analyse the speed the bus had been travelling by calculating the distance between where it first swerved and where it came to rest after the crash.
They also said the bus had not been travelling at a safe distance from the Nissan.
But after further investigations, police said they suspected the main cause of the crash was that the drivers of the bus and the minivan were distracted by their mobile phones.
“We are seeking data that could confirm whether the drivers were using their phones at the time of the accident,” Brig Al Dhaheri said.
Police will submit their final report to prosecutors within 48 hours.
Officers, ambulances and police field hospital staff attended the scene, and the injured were transferred to Al Rahba and Al Mafraq hospitals.
Brig Al Dhaheri said driver use of a mobile phone while at the wheel of a vehicle was a major cause of road accidents.
In April, more than 12,000 Dubai motorists were fined for using their mobile phones on the road.
The figure was down almost a quarter from the same period last year.