Holiday traffic proves deadly as thousands are fined in Dubai
Police talk of distracted drivers and carelessness
DUBAI // One person died on Dubai’s roads and more than 41,000 fines were issued to motorists during Eid Al Fitr.
Col Saif Al Mazrouei, director of the General Department of Traffic at Dubai Police, said 40,170 of the fines were recorded by speed cameras, while 1,253 were fines for speeding at intersections, with most of the offences occurring on Sheikh Zayed Road.
During the holiday there were three major road incidents, police said, with the fatality occurring on Friday at about 2.30pm when a lorry overturned in Jebel Ali.
On the second day of Eid, two Pakistani men were injured when they were run over in Ras Al Khor at 6.30am. A third person sustained moderate injuries on the last day of the holiday when his vehicle crashed into a car. “The man was trapped in his pickup truck on Al Khail Road towards Dubai after hitting another vehicle and officers had to break the door open to get him out,” said Col Al Mazrouei.
“The man was distracted with something other than the road and it was a miracle that he survived the incident.”
On Sunday, a vehicle burst into flames on Umm Suqeim Road, near the Al Khail Road exit.
“Thankfully, no one was killed or injured and Dubai Civil De- fence was able to almost immediately put out the fire,” said Col Al Mazrouei.
Last year, one person was killed during Eid Al Fitr.
The traffic chief said that 25 per cent of road incidents in the first half of this year were a result of tailgating, 24 per cent were because of drivers not paying attention to the road and 21 per cent were caused by drivers suddenly swerving.
There were various causes for the remaining crashes, he said.
Meanwhile, police yesterday said that an officer had been injured in a road incident while on duty. Sgt Khaled Lishikry – who works on the Dubai Tram – was recovering, officials said.
No further details of the incident were available.