ABU DHABI // Fewer people are dying on the roads - both drivers and pedestrians.
In Abu Dhabi, deaths in car accidents fell from 376 in 2010 to 334 last year, a drop of 11.1 per cent. Pedestrian deaths have dropped by a third in two years, and fell last year by 20 per cent to 81.
In Dubai, 12 people died on the roads in January and February compared with 21 in the same months last year. About half of those were pedestrians, and police say cutting that number is their biggest challenge this year.
Police in Abu Dhabi aim to further cut the statistical road-death rate. It is already down to 2.6 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people, down from 4.4 in 2007. "We are trying to reach between 1 and 2," said the police traffic chief Brig Hussein Al Harethi.
"This is the international figure," said Brig Al Harethi, head of the Traffic and Patrols Directorate.
Police attributed the reduction in deaths in Abu Dhabi to an increase in 24-hour patrols that target areas and times where most traffic offences occur, and intensified community awareness activities. These included 12 awareness campaigns, 30 exhibitions and visits to 331 schools.
Several high-profile safety campaigns will take place during Traffic Week in the capital next week. They include the Community Target', which aims to include all aspects of society in a bid to improve road safety, and a Keep it Clean campaign to encourage drivers to have a record clear of black points.
The Broken Heart initiative will discuss the emotional impact of the death of loved ones in accidents through discussions with the friends and families of crash victims.
These campaigns will use social media to raise awareness of the issue and will focus on reaching communities who speak languages other than Arabic or English.
Abu Dhabi plans to introduce Smart Traffic Systems to monitor and control roads as part of its strategy to have zero road deaths in the emirate by 2030.
There were 2,280 crashes that resulted in injuries in 2011, 10 per cent down on the previous year and the lowest rates in over four years.
The overall crash rate per 100,000 people was 73.0 in 2011. The rate of deaths and serious injuries was 23.2 per 100,000.
Fatalities on the emirate's 10 most dangerous roads, which police did not identify, were down by 6 per cent.
Deaths on the Sila road to the Saudi Arabian border and Hameem roads south to the Liwa oasis were reduced by 26 per cent.
The leading causes of crashes were tailgating, running red lights, entering a road without first making sure it was clear, speeding, lack of attention, poor tyre maintenance and reckless driving at turns.
Specific rules have been issued to address these problems in 2012.
The number of registered vehicles in Abu Dhabi dropped by 5 per cent, and the number of licence holders dropped by 9.6 per cent.
In Dubai, speed, sudden swerving and not staying in lane were the most frequent causes of fatal accidents.
Thirty-one children under 15 have been injured in road accidents in Dubai so far this year. Ten of those were pedestrians and three were injured while driving.
In total 383 people were injured in traffic accidents this year, 23 of them seriously.
azacharias@thenational.ae
This article has been corrected since it was published. The number of licence holders in Abu Dhabi did not increase but dropped by 9.6 per cent.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices