15 killed in Dubai heavy truck accidents so far

Road accidents, involving heavy trucks, have claimed 15 lives in 14 accidents during the first half of 2017 in Dubai due to the violation of heavy truck timings.
According to Col Essam Ibrahim Al Aour, Director of Traffic Services at Dubai Police, the number of deaths caused by heavy trucks have reduced, with 49 deaths in 40 accidents in 2016, due to drivers failing to adhere to truck timings on Dubai roads.
He added that the number of violations committed by truck drivers in the first half of 2017 reached 30,664 compared to the same period of the last year which witnessed 24,255 violations.
Top violations include invalid unfit heavy trucks on the road and driving with unfit tyres. The police also issued 2,200 violations for parking in the shoulders of the roads and confiscated 900 heavy trucks for various serious violations.
He pointed out that police received 467 complaints against heavy truck drivers through the Police Application "We are all Police".
Police also revoked 17 licences of truck drivers during the first half of 2017 compared to 25 licences revoked in the same period of 2016.
Al Aour highlighted that most of the accidents were caused by Pakistanis, followed by Indians.
Number of accidents caused by Pakistanis in the first half of 2017 reached 42, whereas Indians were responsible for 30 accidents.
He added that there were 66,846 heavy trucks registered under 6,100 entities.
Police in coordination with RTA is carrying out an awareness campaign to educate truck drivers about the importance of adhering to traffic rules by driving in their designated lanes, and warning them against entering prohibited areas and parking in unauthorized areas - to decrease the number of accidents caused by the heavy truck drivers. 
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai

Afkar Ali Ahmed

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com