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Pedestrians have rights on roads

Drivers who are caught not stopping for pedestrians in designated areas and zebra crossings will face a Dh500 fine and six black points, with the number of drivers ticketed for ignoring pedestrians almost doubling.

The General Department of Traffic and Criminal Investigation Department on Thursday launched a pedestrian safety campaign to spread awareness among drivers on the rights of pedestrians.

Statistics showed that violations where drivers were given priority to pedestrians has reached 680 during the first quarter of the current year, against 365 last year.

General Department of Traffic director Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafin said the one-month campaign, launched around the Naif area, targeted motorists in a bid to reduce car accidents involving pedestrians and to ensure the safety and control of road movement. He said he also hoped the campaign would spread awareness about the rights of the pedestrian to cross the road from designated areas, while also educating pedestrians on the importance of crossing roads using zebra crossings.

During a press conference, attended by directors of Dubai police stations, Al Zafin said accidents in which pedestrians were hit represented up to 30 per cent of total accidents, with 36 people killed in such accidents out of a total 127 road deaths.

He attributed the accidents to a lack of traffic awareness among certain Asian workers, who crossed roads from non-designated areas. The campaign urges pedestrians to take extra caution at zebra crossings that did not have traffic signals, as it was still their right of way to cross the road. Naif Police station director Colonel Abdulla Khadem bin Sorroor said the Naif area was a busy area which was visited by a large number of shoppers. However, he said only three pedestrians had been killed in car accidents during the past two years. He attributed the low toll to police efforts in spreading awareness and educating through various campaigns.

The General Department of Traffic had issued 41,000 traffic fines to pedestrians who crossed roads from non-designated areas.

While drivers would be fined for not stopping for pedestrians, Al Zafin warned pedestrians would also be fined Dh200 for crossing roads at undesignated points.

Traffic laws banned pedestrians from crossing roads where the speed limit was more than 80 kilometres an hour, he said.

news@khaleejtimes.com