One person was killed on Dubai’s roads every day on average in the last week of January, Dubai Police said on Wednesday.

Twelve people were killed in traffic accidents on Dubai roads in January, a sharp increase from last year when traffic accidents claimed nine lives in the month.

Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Director of Traffic Department at Dubai Police, told Gulf News: “The number of deaths on the roads is a worrying figure as we aim to have zero death by 2020 as part of our strategy to reduce casualties on our roads.”

The accidents were a result of dangerous offences like not leaving enough distance between vehicles, not paying attention to the roads and sudden swerving.

Despite police campaigns to raise awareness among drivers and punishments, the number of deaths is still increasing.

“More people have died on the roads because the population has increased in the city and we are having more new roads. We will work even harder this year to reduce the number of deaths,” Brigadier Al Mazroui said.

Last year, five traffic violations topped the list of the most common causes of fatal accidents. Not paying enough attention on the road caused 42 deaths, while not leaving enough distance between vehicles caused 38. Making a sudden turn caused 37 deaths, while speeding resulted in 15 deaths and negligent driving caused 12

source : gulfnews