6-day Eid weekend: Stay safe on the roads

Dubai - Experts have urged residents to be cautious and maintain proper etiquette, while also celebrating a happy and safe Eid Al Adha.

It is that time of the year when Muslims all over the world celebrate Eid Al Adha and it is no different in the UAE, with the diverse expatriate population too being an integral part of the celebrations.

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With it being a six-day Eid weekend starting from Monday, families and individuals are preparing to celebrate it in a big way with most set to get together or visit relatives or friends, to wish them. Some have also planned staycations or road trips to other emirates to discover some of the hidden gems, while others will perhaps head to the malls or the beaches.

But the holiday season is also fraught with an element of risk as many motorists will be on UAE roads. Over the years, holidays have seen a spike in accident rates, especially during Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and New Year’s eve. And road safety experts in the UAE have warned residents of these risks and urged them to be cautious and maintain proper etiquette, while also celebrating a happy and safe Eid Al Adha.

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“Festive seasons like Eid, the Holy Month, the holiday season/New Year creates more traffic than usual as we want to see people close to us, our families, our friends,” Thomas Edelmann, the founder and managing director of RoadSafetyUAE, told Khaleej Times.

And this usually leads to minor or major accidents. The horrific bus accident, which killed 17 people during Eid Al Fitr in June 2019, is still fresh in memory.

Such accidents are caused because drivers, in a hurry to reach their destination, get distracted and indulge in speeding. They also swerve across lanes which makes it even more dangerous.

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“Motorists often anticipate the get-together and drive in a distracted manner, which leads to speeding, lane swerving and the other forms of unfortunate misbehaviour we experience on our roads,” said Edelmann.

Accidents over the years

There have been plenty of accidents over the years during festive seasons, despite repeated advisories issued by the police across the country.

During last year’s five-day Eid Al Fitr holidays, 412 accidents were recorded by the Dubai Police and they received 24,198 calls on the hotline — 19,317 of which were through the 999 emergency line and 4,881 calls on 901. Some of the accidents, the police said, were due to speeding and tailgating.

During the Eid Al Adha holidays in August 2019, 950 accidents were reported, according to the Command and Control Centre of the Dubai Police, with 28,603 calls made to their emergency hotline.

Colonel Turki bin Fares, director of the centre, had explained that speeding, tailgating, distracted driving and sudden change of lanes were some of the reasons for the accidents.

During the Eid Al Adha holidays in August 2018, 1,661 accidents were recorded, according to the Dubai Police and they had received 68,203 calls.

>> Residents told to limit Eid celebrations to first-degree relatives