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Road deaths drop sharply in Dubai

DUBAI — Deaths in road accidents dropped to 90 in the first half of the current year from 120 in the corresponding period last year.

The traffic deaths index in Dubai fell from 7.11 per 100,000 people to less than one per 100,000. Dubai is hoping to achieve a zero target in the number of deaths in road accidents in the next ten years, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Acting Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, said the marked decline in road death toll was attributed to the tireless measures adopted by the traffic police to ensure safety of road users and protect their lives from reckless motorists, strict enforcement of the federal traffic law and rules with the aim of reducing road fatalities and heightened awareness and compliance with the traffic rules.

He noted that massive deployment of traffic patrols on roads had brought about good results and proven its efficiency.

“From January to June, the traffic department in Dubai impounded 15,130 vehicles and seized 515 driving licences compared to 21,238 vehicles and 808 driving licences in the same period in 2009,” Al Mazeina said during a meeting for assessing performance of the traffic department in the second quarter of the year.

He said Emirates Road and Shaikh Zayed Road were the most dangerous traffic arteries where 15 and 11 road accident deaths occurred, respectively, in the first half of the current year against 12 and six deaths, respectively, in the first half of the previous year.

In a presentation about the traffic landscape in the first half of the year, Lt-Colonel Saif Al Mazrouie, Acting Director of the Traffic Department, said traffic accidents in Dubai in the first six months of the year sank to 164 from 206 in the same period last year. —

• UAE