Saaed moves into the streets of Sharjah

The company which takes care of minor road accidents now has 20 vehicles in Sharjah.

A Saaed patrol officer takes details of an in Mussaffah. Now the private company can be seen on Sharjah’s roads. Stephen Lock / The National

SHARJAH // The private company that investigates minor traffic accidents is now patrolling Sharjah’s roads.

A fleet of 20 Saaed vehicles officially took to the emirate’s roads yesterday to respond to minor accidents – almost 80 per cent of crashes – that don’t involve injuries, freeing up traffic police to concentrate on more serious incidents.

Saaed staff prepare reports, including diagrams of crash scenes, to help determine fault, which can carry a fine of Dh300. If there is a dispute over who is at fault, police will be called, with a case going to court if a disagreement cannot be resolved.

Jassim Mohammed bin Hadda, the general director of operations at Sharjah Police, said the company’s vehicles will be directed from the police central operations room.

“Once we get a call about an accident we determine the seriousness of it and if it’s minor we pass it on to the Saaed people,” he said.

“Police will still handle more serious accidents.”

He added that the response time would be less than 15 minutes.

Brig Hussein Al Harthi, director of traffic and patrols at Abu Dhabi Police and chairman of Saaed, said: “We hope that the initiation of Saeed to Sharjah will raise the level of traffic safety awareness and instil a culture of safety into the minds of motorists and pedestrians.”

The service was welcomed by motorists, although some were concerned about being fined Dh300 if they are found to have caused a crash.

“The accident report is becoming more expensive, with a charge for the Saaed service now. And we are struggling with new Salik gates, rising rent and the increasing cost of living,” said Mohammed who had used the service on King Faisal Road.

Saaed started working in Abu Dhabi’s Mussaffah area in 2008 before branching out to the rest of the emirate and then to Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain.

Mr Al Harthi said drivers in Ajman would see Saaed vehicles on the road in the near future. There are no plans for the service to be expanded to Dubai.