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Ajman's roads are safer, courtesy its cops

Ajman - Ajman recorded a 5% decrease in deaths from accidents in 2017, compared to 2016

There has been a marked decline in road fatalities and injuries in the emirate in 2017 as compared to 2016, revealed the statistics recently issued by the Ajman Traffic Department.
The deaths caused by traffic accidents went down by 5 per cent and injuries by 35 per cent. The number of serious accidents plummeted by 27 per cent and minor accidents by 8 per cent. The statistics also show decrease in the number of run-overs by 10 per cent as efforts have been mounted to reduce the loss of life and property.
Commenting on the statistics, Major-General Shaikh Sultan bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Ajman Police Commander-in-Chief, said that the efforts of the Ministry of Interior to develop methods to deal with traffic accidents and their fallout have led to improvement in the results of the indicators of traffic statistics for 2017 in Ajman.
He added the police are making huge efforts to achieve the goal of the UAE Vision 2021 to bring down traffic accident deaths to 3 per 100,000 residents.
The recent statistics show that Ajman recorded a decrease of 5 per cent in the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents with 18 fatalities recorded in 2017 as compared to 19 deaths in 2016.
The number of injuries resulting from traffic accidents was 262 in 2017, while 2016 recorded 407 injuries - which meant a dip by 35 per cent last year.
Al Nuaimi pointed out that the statistics also showed a decline in the number of traffic accidents by 27 per cent in 2017. A total of 191 accidents were recorded in 2017 as compared to 262 in 2016. The statistics indicate 23,028 minor traffic accidents in 2017 as compared to 25,041 mishaps in 2016 - a drop of 8 per cent. He added the run-over accidents slumped by 10 per cent with 96 such accidents recorded in 2017 as compared to 107 in 2016. "Negligence and lack of attention as well as speeding were the prime causes of accidents. These were caused by drivers aged between 31 and 45 years," Al Nuaimi underlined.
In 2017, there were 97 road accidents caused due to driver's negligence and lack of attention, followed by sudden swerving that led to 24 mishaps. Tailgating resulted in 21 accidents.
The violation of entering the road before ensuring its safety caused 12 accidents. Failure to gauge the road-users movement led to 10 accidents and lack of lane discipline caused six accidents. Failing to make way for other motorists caused five accidents and reversing without attention led to four accidents. Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs resulted in two accidents each.
Those who cause accidents
Al Nuaimi pointed out that motorists in the age group of 31-45 years were most responsible for the accidents. They caused 85 accidents that resulted in serious injuries, which constitutes 43 per cent of the total number of traffic accidents with casualties. Asians committed 100 accidents - amounting to 51 per cent of the total accidents. Arab drivers committed 44 accidents - 22 per cent of these accidents caused injuries, followed by African nationalities and Europeans.
Proactive police
Al Nuaimi explained that road safety has improved in the emirate due to implementation of comprehensive plans to reduce accidents and development of mechanism to deal with violators.
He added that 2017 witnessed a slew of projects that contributed in curbing traffic dangers, including the launch of smart patrols equipped to expedite response to traffic accidents. Besides, what has majorly helped is the smart services provided for immediate reporting of accidents and traffic violations, as well as the launch of civil traffic patrols to check violators.
Awareness to sensitise people about traffic safety has gone a long way in making the roads safer. The awareness literature in different languages targeted various segments of the society. The media has also been playing a key role in disseminating traffic safety lessons and educating the people about violations that are behind fatal road accidents.
afkarali@khakeejtimes.com