DUBAI // Mohammed Diyar, a bus driver at a special-needs centre, has learnt the importance of keeping a safe distance between vehicles, buckling up at all times and how to avoid crashes.
The Pakistani, with 10 years of driving experience, was on Tuesday among the first batch of 200 lorry, minivan and school bus drivers to receive a two-hour training session on defensive driving at the Roads and Transport Authority’s Al Aweer Depot.
“It is good for drivers to be updated regularly on driving techniques,” said Mr Diyar, 32, who travels about 200 kilometres every day to pick up and drop children at Al Noor Training Centre.
“We are properly trained for the job but it is good to be reminded to keep a safe distance from other vehicles.”
About 500 drivers are expected to take part in the free workshops, conducted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, a non-profit body that raises awareness of road safety worldwide.
The workshops, organised by UAE company Tristar Transport, come a month after 13 workers were killed in a horrific bus crash on Emirates Road last month.
The labourers were travelling from their accommodation in Umm Al Quwain to Jebel Ali on May 10 when their bus crashed into a stationary lorry.
Organisers said the purpose of the workshops was to minimise accidents.
“We are targeting the heavy vehicle drivers community in the UAE to improve road safety,” said Eugene Mayne, chief executive of Tristar Group.
“As an oil and gas logistics company, we are conscious of the potential consequences of an incident involving road tankers transporting flammable products.”
Mr Mayne said the programme would be rolled out across the Arabian Gulf region.
He said Tuesday’s workshop was conducted in English to help RTA trainers become accustomed to it, but the rest of the sessions will be in Hindi or Urdu.
Although trainers urged them to take breaks when tired, drivers said there were few rest stops in the UAE.
“We need more parking areas where we can pull over to check our tyres and rest for a few minutes before we resume our journey again,” said Mario Espinoza, 54, who drives trailers for Oman Transport.
“The Abu Dhabi Truck Road has one park and rest area and there is a new one on Emirates Road, but we need more.”
This month, the RTA opened its first rest area, on Emirates Road about five kilometres before the exit to Al Ain, for 30 lorries.
It plans to open 24 more across Dubai emirate, with clinics, shops and petrol stations.
Mr Espinoza said rules for heavy vehicles at roundabouts could cause accidents.
“We are being asked to stay on the extreme right lane, even if we have to turn left or make a U-turn,” he said. “Driving schools teach us to be on the left but police fine us if we are not on the right lane.
“This is extremely dangerous for everyone as cars that want to turn right are on these lanes and we have to be very careful.”
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Carla Bruni
(Verve)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Yas Gateway Park
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British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
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Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
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• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
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- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
