A year on, what has changed?

Road deaths have fallen by 10 per cent in the UAE since March 2008 but safety experts and pedestrians agree streets remain dangerous.

The scene yesterday on the stretch of Airport Rd in Abu Dhabi where three girls were killed.

ABU DHABI // A white fence stands in the central reservation on Airport Road near Carrefour. The barrier is a deterrent to people trying to cross the road. It also serves as a practical memorial to three girls who died a year ago trying to cross the carriageway and their nanny who died from her injuries in April.

Yet even now, pedestrians, many of them labourers, stream through a gap in the fence and sprint towards the shopping centre. Their answer for why they run the risk is the same as it was last summer: "The traffic lights are too far," or "Everyone does this every day." The deaths of the three girls, aged 4, 6 and 7, and their nanny, aged 24, prompted the launch of a campaign by The National called Road to Safety.

Although cars continue to speed and pedestrians continue to run across busy roads, police statistics comparing crashes during the first five months of this year and last year show a 22 per cent decrease across the UAE. There were 2,713 crashes between January 1 and May 31 this year, compared with 3,477 during the same period last year. That illustrates an improvement, said Brig Gen Gaith al Zaabi, the director general of traffic co-ordination at the Ministry of Interior.

"We relate this to more organisation and co-ordination between various concerned parties on the federal level," Gen al Zaabi said. "Regulations and laws are being implemented more." In particular, officials have said fewer pedestrians are being hit; 495 were struck in the first five months of this year, compared with 602 in the same period last year. Road deaths in the UAE have fallen 10 per cent since March 2008, when the black points fining system was introduced.

Authorities have introduced a slew of campaigns and changes during the past year to help to curb dangerous driving and improve the roads. In Abu Dhabi, the Education Council started teaching road safety in summer schools, police are using unmarked cars to catch dangerous drivers and TransAD, the taxi regulator, installed speed-limiting devices in cabs. The Department of Transport conducted a safety audit of the emirate's roads, the Urban Planning Council revealed a new street design manual that emphasises pedestrians, and the Abu Dhabi Municipality is studying how to make school zones safer. Several hospitals are handing out free child safety seats, which the Government plans to make mandatory by 2011, along with rear-seat safety belts.

In Dubai, two men were charged with endangering the lives of others after video clips of them performing car stunts on Sheikh Zayed Road surfaced online. Salama, a public awareness initiative, brings the rally car champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem to visit thousands of students aged 14-18, urging them to take responsibility for making the roads safer. "Some of you are too young to think about driving yet, but you can get into the habit of wearing seat belts now," Mr Ben Sulayem, the president of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, told the first group of students on Sunday at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi. "Too many bright young people with the world at their feet lose their lives, or have their lives changed forever, by road accidents. Always keep road safety at the front of your mind. Take responsibility yourselves to make our roads safer."

Residents and safety experts agree things are improving, though the roads remain dangerous. Nisrine Sfeir, the public awareness manager with the Emirates Foundation, one of the founders of the Salama initiative, whose safety campaign focuses on the "guilt factor" of traffic accidents, said that awareness combined with law enforcement created the best impact. "Everyone has a role in driving change on the roads; all age groups, nationalities, professions. Children and teenagers are the drivers of tomorrow and have a big impact on the long term. Teenagers think of driving as a goal - a lifetime achievement - they look forward to sitting behind the wheel and speed.

"This [Salama] campaign is an opportunity to share with the students the importance of understanding the risk factors and empower them to becoming ambassadors of change, lifesaving heroes." She added that having a generation of safety-educated young adults would help lower the casualties on the roads in the coming years. Dorothy Salvador, a Filipina pedestrian, said: "There's still a lot of accidents, but it is a bit better. But there should be more pedestrian areas."

Dr Mohamed el Sadig, an expert in safety promotion and accident prevention at UAE University, said that creating cultural change in the UAE, a country with many cultures and languages, will take time. However, he remains optimistic that the problem can be tackled. "It is a very complex problem to resolve by the rate we would really love to see," he said. "If we keep pressing you can see the difference you make day after day."

[e-mail] * With additional reporting by Haneen Dajani, Catherine English and Alyazia al Shaibani