SHARJAH // The deaths of two three-year-old Emirati girls who were run over by cars driven by family members outside their homes in the Northern Emirates in the space of a week have tragically highlighted the need for drivers to take more care around children, said road safety experts.
The most recent accident took place in Al Dhaid, Sharjah, on Friday afternoon. The child was taken to Al Dhaid Hospital but died that evening after suffering severe head injuries and internal bleeding when her brother’s car reversed over her.
A similar incident occurred in Ras Al Khaimah last Tuesday when a toddler was run over and killed by her uncle’s car as she played outside the family home.
There were two accidents in which a child was killed by a reversing car in RAK last year, with a further two in Ajman and one in Fujairah. All of the victims were under 10 and were killed by a family member.
Thomas Edelmann, founder of Road Safety UAE, said there were simple steps that could be taken to help reduce the risk of these kind of accidents.
“We can reduce the risk from a human element by ensuring children are kept clear of the driveway by a nanny or other family member. If there is only one entrance or exit from a home on to a driveway, it should be kept closed if someone is due to leave by car.
“Technology is improving in vehicles and this will also help. New cars have a system that will bring it to an immediate automatic stop if it detects an object behind it, such as a shopping trolley, dog or a child.”
Maj Abdulrahman Khater, head of the awareness and safety department at Sharjah Traffic Police, urged drivers to take more care and move a car only if they were sure there was no one behind the vehicle or close to them.
Dr Ali Alharjan, a private psychiatrist who works in Sharjah, said it was important that the family of the driver rallied round them, because they could expect to suffer depression, sleep disorders and anxiety as a result of the accident.
“The family has the biggest role in helping the person responsible for the accident, they need to minimise the guilt, and to make sure that they tell him that they understand that it was fate and an unintentional mistake,” said Dr Alharjan, adding that if they were not treated properly, the family could suffer another tragedy by losing another member to psychiatric problems.
Dr Ahmad Al Omosh, who holds a Phd in sociology and is Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Sharjah University, said the driver would probably “relive this tragic accident in his memory over and over again”.
“If there was no proper care, he might require psychological help,” Dr Al Omosh said.
Incidents where a person is accidentally killed by a family member are investigated by the police and referred to the public prosecution.
However, the authorities consider the family’s grief before deciding if a punishment is necessary, said Maj Saif Al Falasi, head of the traffic and patrol division at Ajman Police.
Roshanara Sait, director of Ciel Marketing and Events, which organises road safety awareness campaigns, said drivers needed to be aware of their surroundings, especially when pedestrians and young children were close by.
“It is hard to educate very young children, particularly toddlers, so it is important that families and drivers take responsibility for themselves,” she said. “I have a dog and I am always careful when I am reversing my car, so I can’t understand how these accidents can happen. It is shocking.”
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