Abu Dhabi to host meeting on road safety

ABU DHABI // Traffic safety experts from the UAE and the Arab world will take part in a five-day seminar in Abu Dhabi on managing traffic safety systems as part of an effort to reduce road accidents. The seminar, under the patronage of Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of Interior, will be held at the Abu Dhabi Armed Officers Club from Sunday.

Dr Nasser al Mansouri, general manager of UAE National Transport Authority, which is participating in the organisation of the seminar, said its aim was to improve skills and traffic safety expertise. The authority aims to strengthen co-operation between transport and infrastructure officials in order to reduce traffic accidents, he said. According to statistics, traffic accidents are responsible for killing 1.2 million people and injuring 50 million worldwide each year and cause losses totalling US$5.18 billion (Dh19bn), Dr Mansouri said.

If the procedures required for limiting traffic accidents were not implemented, the number of deaths would probably increase and road accidents would become the second most frequent cause of death in the world by 2030, he added. The seminar will address the nature and challenges of traffic accidents in the Arab world, traffic safety on the international level, how to influence the attitudes of road users, improving infrastructure and the role of traffic regulation and ambulances.

It is organised by the UAE Traffic Safety Society, the International Organisation for the Prevention of Accidents and the Arab Organisation for Traffic Safety. Abu Dhabi Police and the National Authority of Transport are also participating. [e-mail]