11 jaywalkers killed in Dubai in three months
80% people not aware of how to cross roads properly
dubai — Eleven pedestrians were killed in Dubai in the past three months while trying to cross the road from non-designated areas. Colonel Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Acting Director of the General Department of Traffic of the Dubai Police, said about 80 per cent of pedestrians are “not aware of how to cross roads properly”.
“Some pedestrians cross the road from non-designated areas; they jump across the concrete barriers or slide underneath fences to cross the roads,” he said.
He said his department has held a number of awareness campaigns on the issue. The department, he said, fined 59,212 people in 2013, compared to 2,485 in the three months of the current year.
“The number of violations is high and it can be reduced only by spreading awareness,” he said.
In 2013, 46 pedestrians were killed and 399 injured, while in the first three months of the current year, 11 pedestrians have been killed and 98 injured.
The Dubai Traffic Police and the Ministry of Labour last week launched an awareness campaign under the theme ‘Cross Safely’ to inculcate traffic culture in the community. The campaign also aimed to work towards the Dubai Police’s strategy to reduce fatal accidents to zero for 100,000 population by 2020.