Give way to emergency vehicles, civil defence urges motorists

The civil defence department in the emirate of Umm Al Quwain has urged the public to give way to firefighting vehicles.
The department has made a special video on the issue and shared it on its official account on Instagram.
"The video in Urdu with Arabic subtitle is meant to raise public awareness, particularly among road users, on how critical it is to give priority to civil defence vehicles," informed sources told Khaleej Times.
"The video says 'clear the road and give way to emergency vehicles to reach the accident site as soon as possible'," they added.
"Helping emergency vehicles reach the accident site quickly saves people's life," an UAQ firefighter says in the video.
Sherif Al Wakeel, an Egyptian contractor who carries out different projects in the emirate, told Khaleej Times that some drivers are extremely reckless, and reluctantly give way to civil defence and emergency vehicles.
"Those have to be strictly fined as they are hamper rescue operations, and time is life in such critical moments."
"Simply name and shame the violators," Mohammed Abbas, a Sudanese resident at Al Ramla area, said. "Some careless drivers even race to follow the emergency vehicles, and that may lead to accidents."
As per the amended federal traffic law, a fine of Dh1,000 instead of the previous Dh500 along with six instead of four black points shall be slapped against any driver that is seen hampering or obstructing the way or abusing the lane of emergency vehicles.
Inspection campaigns shall be intensified by the law enforcement bodies to detect and nab such violators.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com


Note: The UAQ civil defence is reachable at (067067100), twitter: (@997uaq), email: (997uaq@gmail.com) and website (www.uaqcd.gov.ae)