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Blood on roads and highways

FORTYONE individuals this year have been the victims of traffic accidents in Ras Al Khaimah.

A 17-year-old young man was badly injured when the car he was driving without a licence rolled over. In the same accident, another young man was admitted to hospital for sustaining injuries. It was previously reported that there is an increase in the death toll on Dubai roads this year — it reached 163 this year compared to 150 in the same period last year (Jan-Sept).

If we continue with the statistics of the traffic departments, we will see nothing but a lake of continuous bleeding and a large number of accident disability victims, which pushes us to re-consider our rules and regulations regarding traffic laws and penalties, and to impose stricter measures on reckless drivers.

Had the water tanker, which collided with a parked police vehicle, kept the needed distance between the vehicle in front of him — a fuel truck — he could have smoothly stopped his truck when alerted by the police. But instead, he drove straight into the police car parked on the hard shoulder.

We request the authorities to beef up the number of police patrols on motorbikes, for they are quick and can monitor careless drivers easily, catch them and confiscate their driving licences to serve as a lesson for the rest. Many things need to be reconsidered as long as the present methods don’t help in stopping the fatalities or at least decreasing them substantially.

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