Virtual drive launched to check crashes due to bad tyres in UAE

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Virtual drive, launched, check, crashes, bad tyres, UAE

Abu Dhabi - The drive is part of the traffic sector initiatives to improve safety on the roads.

by

Ismail Sebugwaawo

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Published: Wed 29 Jul 2020, 5:00 PM

Last updated: Wed 29 Jul 2020, 8:23 PM

As many as 915 accidents took place due to bad tyres, lack of regular maintenance of vehicles and overloading, which caused 97 deaths and 1,281 injuries during last year, a report issued by the General Department of Traffic Coordination at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) had recently revealed.
Against such a backdrop, the UAE has launched a remote summer safety campaign to prevent tyre-related accidents during the hot weather and ensure the safety of all road-users.
The MoI said it rolled out the third unified traffic awareness campaign 2020 across UAE under the slogan 'Safe Traffic Summer', via virtual communication and on social media. The drive is part of the traffic sector initiatives to improve safety on the roads and educate the society about the negative effects resulting from traffic accidents, including deaths, injuries, moral and financial damages.
Major General Mohamed Saif Al Zaffin, assistant police chief for operations affairs and head of the federal traffic council at the MoI, said the ministry's strategy aims at spreading and enhancing road safety security.
He noted that the MoI seeks to achieve the highest safety standards for all road-users to reach the target of three deaths per 100,000 of the population by 2021.
The campaign, which will run throughout the summer months, reflects the strategy of the ministry to improve road safety.
"Accidents constitute a major reason for concern, due to the resulting havoc that leads to deaths, injuries and other social repercussions, as well as considerable financial damage incurred," said the traffic official.
The summer safety campaign is being implemented in cooperation and coordination with the country's traffic and patrol departments and traffic safety authorities of the public and private sectors, supporting efforts to take the necessary precautions by promoting vehicle and tyre safety, and performing regular vehicle maintenance.
The campaign aims to target a large segment of society through various media outlets, social media as well as organise discussion sessions via radio stations that will host specialists and officials from various traffic departments, in order to respond to the public's enquiries about the campaign.
The Abu Dhabi Police reported in June that the number of motorists caught driving with damaged and expired tyres were 6,211 last year. Such motorists face a Dh500 fine, along with four black points and their vehicle is impounded for a week.
Police said the main causes of traffic accidents during summer include driving with expired and worn-out tyres, underinflated or overinflated tyres and overloading of vehicles.
Damaged and expired tyres can easily burst on hot road surfaces resulting in crashes, according to officials.
Traffic authorities have reminded drivers to regularly check their car tyres to ensure they are in a good condition as air pressure in them normally increases especially in hot weather conditions.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com 


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