Dubai road deaths drop by 62 per cent in final quarter of 2020

Police cite road safety campaigns as key factor in declining death rates

Police announced a significant fall in deaths on Dubai's roads in the final three months of 2020. Pawan Singh / The National

The number of deaths on Dubai's roads in the final quarter of 2020 fell by 62 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.

Dubai Police said the figures represented 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people in road accidents – below the acceptable level of 2.7 per 100,000 people.

These statistics were revealed during a performance review of the force's traffic division.

Officers did not disclose the number of deaths between October and December.

This drop in road deaths continued a trend of declining fatality rates established in the first nine months of 2020.

Those figures showed that 76 people were killed in road accidents from January to the end of September – down from 132 in the corresponding period in 2019. This was a fall of 42 per cent.

The meeting heard that a series of awareness campaigns reached more than 147,000 road users.

Initiatives were aimed at boosting pedestrian safety, highlighting the importance of maintaining safe distances on the road and emphasising the dangers of speeding.