ABU DHABI // Political will, publicity campaigns, strict enforcement and improved traffic systems have helped cut road deaths in the country, experts say.
The 2015 World Health Organisation Global Status Report on Road Safety – based on data from 2013 – showed that there were 10.9 deaths per 100,000 motorists in the UAE.
“In 2008, the number of traffic deaths per 100,000 people was more than 20, and in the 2013 report, this number was 12.7, and in the 2015 status report, it is 10.9, so we see a clear downwards trend,” said Joop Goos, chairman of the International Organisation for Road Accident Prevention.
He was speaking on the first day of an international conference on road safety management and intelligent transport systems (ITS), organised by the Emirates Traffic Society in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
While the incidences of road deaths are on the decline, the UAE has goals to make the roads safer, said Lt Gen Saif Al Shafar, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior.
“We aim to achieve 3 to 3.5 traffic fatalities per 100,000 people in the next three years,” he said.
“Only the UK and some Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, have achieved this figure. But we are keen to achieve it.”
Brig Gen Ghaith Al Zaabi, director general of the Ministry of Interior’s traffic coordination department, said that the decline in traffic-related deaths and injuries was a result of tougher enforcement, and more cameras to catch speeders and those who run red lights.
Mr Goos believed governments around the world needed to work together to tackle road safety.
“National governments need to collaborate with their road safety partners, implement effective measures to tackle issues such as speeding, drink driving, not wearing seat-belts, helmets and child restraint systems,” he said.
“More countries must strengthen their legislation and improve their enforcement efforts.”
According to the WHO report, there were 1.25 million road traffic deaths around the world in 2013.
“If we compare this number with the year 2007, we see that we are more or less on the same level, despite a 4 per cent increase in global population and 16 per cent increase in motorisation,” Mr Goos said.
“This suggests that road safety efforts over the past few years have saved lives.”
Road safety had still not received the attention that it deserved, said Dr Adnan Rahman, director of the International Road Federation in Geneva.
Traffic fatalities represent the eighth leading cause of death in the world.
“The WHO said that there were almost 1.3 million fatalities from road accidents and there were 50 million people who get disabled from road accidents,” Dr Rahman said.
“It’s the leading cause of death among young people and 60 per cent of all traffic-related deaths are of people in the age category of 15 to 44 years.
“The global cost of road accidents is also astonishing – it’s US$1.8 trillion (Dh6.61tn) annually.”
There are systems available that can promote safe driving in traffic, prevent unsafe driving behaviour and reduce the severity of accident, Dr Rahman said.
“We need to make sure that ITS and technological standards are incorporated in our transport policies,” he said.
“But there needs to be more partnerships and collaboration.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
