AJMAN // The number of car accidents in Ajman has increased by 16.5 per cent but the number of fatalities has decreased.
Police said deaths fell from 22 in 2014 to 18 in 2015, the most recent year figures are available for.
Al Ittihad, Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Zayed streets are the major accident blackspots in the emirate, said Major Saif Al Falasi, deputy director of Traffic and Patrol Department at Ajman Police.
There were 1,075 accidents on Al Ittihad Street last year compared to 940 in 2014, while, on Sheikh Zayed Street, accidents have increased from 2,149 to 2,160.
“To decrease the number of car accidents, we have imposed the traffic law through spreading 50 patrols throughout the day, 33 surveillance cameras and 23 fixed radars, 21 mobile ones and 69 at traffic lights,” said the deputy director.
Brigadier Ghaith Al Zaabi, general director of the traffic coordination department at the Ministry of Interior, said: “The percentage of deaths has decreased from 2008 to 2015 by 37 per cent. The death rate per 100,000 of population has become 6.5. That has made the UAE among the best countries in the world in terms of the death rate.”
More lanes lead to more accidents, the general director added.
“Road experts do not advise to expand roads. Using public transportation would definitely decrease the percentage of accidents,” he said.
Across the UAE, there were 1,803 fatal accidents in Abu Dhabi in 2015; 1,512 in Dubai; 673 in Sharjah; 322 in RAK; 176 in Fujairah and 66 in UAQ, said Major Al Falasi.
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