Abu Dhabi road deaths drop by a third as police hand out 4m traffic fines

Police say awareness messages and penalties are yielding results

Motorists had a relatively clear run this morning. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

The number of people killed in road accidents in Abu Dhabi last year fell by about a third, police said on Tuesday, as they revealed more than four million fines were handed out to drivers.

A total of 199 deaths were recorded in 2017 - down from 289 in 2016.

The overall number of accidents also dropped from 1,740 to 1,533.

The figures were set out by Brig Ali Al Dhaheri, director of Abu Dhabi Police's central operations sector, at a press conference.

He said continuous efforts to tackle bad driving and greater awareness among drivers has improved road safety.

Among the other headline figures was a drop in the number of people that were hit by vehicles, from 63 in 2016 to 50 in 2017.

“Continuous efforts by police have seen road deaths drop to 5.7 per 100,000 population, exceeding the target, which was 7.34 deaths per 100,000," Brig Al Dhaheri said.

Four in every five traffic offences was for speeding, he said, adding that 4,637,152 fines overall were given to drivers last year.

Brig Al Dhaheri also said "young drivers aged between 18 and 30 committed 44.8 per cent of the accidents recorded in 2017".

“We continue, in co-ordination with the partners, to achieve the traffic safety strategy approved by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council for 2016-2020 which include five main goals - vehicle safety, road engineering, traffic control, education, training and awareness and emergency response".

Among the most common offences was driving with an expired driving licence, the failure to buckle up - which became mandatory for all occupants of a vehicle in July - pedestrians running across roads at undesignated areas, swerving between lanes, using a mobile phone and tailgating.