Federal council soon to tackle traffic issues

Traffic departments across the nation to coordinate

dubai — Lt-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior has decided to form a federal traffic council assigned to solve traffic problems in the UAE.

Director General at the Department of Traffic at Dubai Police Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, said this was a “good decision” as the country has expanded and its population has increased.

He said it is important to unify all traffic procedures and will help facilitate coordination among traf- fic departments before taking any decision pertaining to traffic issues or in proposing amendments to traffic laws.

As per the decision, Al Zafin will be the chairman of the federal traffic council and Brigadier Ghaith Hassan Al Zaabi, Director General of the Traffic Coordination Department at the Ministry of Interior will be the deputy chairman.

The members of the council would be the directors of traffic departments of other emirates, in addition to members from other departments concerned, including the RTA.

Al Zafin revealed that 134 people died and 1,882 sustained inju- ries due to traffic accidents during the past 10 months. In all, 4,213 vehicles were involved in 2,291 traffic accidents, he added.

Major-General Mohammed revealed that collisions resulted in 58 deaths, while making sudden turns resulted in 33. Not paying attention to road users led to 33 deaths, while hit-and-run accidents killed 25 and not leaving enough space between vehicl es killed 24.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed road topped the list of the most dangerous roads, registering 16 deaths followed by Emirates road and Shaikh Zayed Road, both of which recorded eight each.