Fujairah pedestrian deaths fall

Pedestrian deaths on Fujairah's roads dropped 25 per cent in 2014 - but residents are asking for more crossings to ensure safety.

Pedestrians make use of a faded marked zebra crossing to navigate a path through traffic on busy Hamad bin Abdullah Road in Fujairah. Satish Kumar / The National

FUJAIRAH // Fewer pedestrians are dying on Fujairah’s roads, according to statistics from the traffic and patrol department.

There was a 25 per cent decline in fatal run-over incidents last year. Six people were killed in 49 incidents, down from eight deaths in 59 incidents in 2013.

The Ministry of Interior recently launched a nationwide safety awareness campaign entitled “Ensure Pedestrian Safety”, which will run for three months. It will conduct lectures and distribute brochures. The authorities also plan to restore the zebra crossings along major routes such as Hamad bin Abdullah Road.

The emirate will also introduce a jaywalking fine of Dh200, and a Dh500 fine plus six demerit points to drivers who fail to give way to pedestrians at zebra crossings.

Najmaldin Faruk, 38, a professional driver from India, said he welcomed the jaywalking fine.

“People jump in front of the car suddenly without any notice, they never cross from the right area, which is designed for them.

“It’s not just our responsibility, it’s their responsibility too, they should be more careful,” he said.

“I drive people to all the emirates and I see careless people crossing the roads almost everywhere, not only here in Fujairah, and they should be punished too.”

Iqbal Nawaz, a Pakistani schoolbus driver, said he and the bus attendant made sure that his young passengers arrived home safely by dropping them at their residences.

“It’s not allowed to drop children off in front of a street, even if they are old enough to cross the road. They are our responsibility,” he said.

“Therefore we wait until someone comes to take them or we help them to cross the street.”

For their part, pedestrians have voiced their concerns about the condition of the zebra crossings along Hamad bin Abdullah Road.

“Hamad Bin Abdullah Road is considered one of the main streets in Fujairah, there used to be zebra crossings before. But they have since faded and became unclear for the people crossing the street,” said Malek Abdulfattah, a 29-year-old Syrian shop manager.

“People therefore are now crossing from everywhere and it’s considered dangerous.”

Emirati resident Sultan Khames, 31, said Hamad bin Abdullah Road was in need of clearly defined zebra crossings and parking lots.

“It is a very active street with so many shops. Drivers keep their cars parked on the sides of the street to get down and buy some stuff from a shop or a restaurant, which causes traffic jams and prevents us from seeing people crossing the road,” he said.

“There are no clear marks for people to cross from, and this causes confusion to us motorists and to pedestrians.”

First Lt Mohammed Al Basri, head of the media and traffic awareness department, said: “Our aim is to influence the behaviour of all road users in the emirate of Fujairah by providing road safety campaigns and community programmes, to reach the highest levels of traffic safety awareness.”

He said this approach had resulted in recent years in a significant decrease in the number of accidents that resulted in “25 per cent more lives” being saved.