New Dubai traffic safety scheme will be introduced to cut congestion and accidents

Year-long trial run of Traffic Incidents Management Scheme to be rolled out on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road in September

A new traffic management scheme aims to reduce congestion and accidents on a major Dubai route. Rich-Joseph Facun / The National

A new safety scheme aimed at cutting congestion and preventing accidents on a major Dubai route will be brought into force in September.

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has joined forces with Dubai Police to roll out a year-long trial run of the Traffic Incidents Management Scheme, which sets out to ensure vehicles involved in accidents and breakdowns on a 70km stretch of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road are cleared swiftly - to improve traffic flow and reduce the risk of further accidents.

A meeting was held between Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, and Major-General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, in the presence of Major-General Al Sallal Saeed Bin Huwaidi Al Falasi, Director of Administrative Affairs, to finalise the initiative.

The management scheme, which will start on September 16, will see a team deployed at the command and control room of the Dubai Police.

A process will be charted out for communication between the operations room, the traffic control centre and the dedicated patrol vehicles on the E311 Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road.

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According to studies commissioned by the RTA, the project will help to reduce congestion, along with associated costs, by as much as 25 percent, as well as save extra expenses incurred by Dubai Police.

The meeting also saw discussions on the expansion of the RTA’s Intelligent Traffic Systems, one of the key creations of its Innovation Lab (Masar 2030).

That plan envisages the designing and building of an integrated infrastructure of Intelligent Traffic Systems and the building of a new Traffic Management Control Centre at Al Barsha.

The two sides also explored the collection of fines on vehicles with expired registration - a number estimated to be 269,000.

Police and the RTA agreed to step up enforcement action and carry out more awareness campaigns to highlight the consequences of failing to  renew vehicles registrations.

The wide-ranging meeting also covered reckless riding involving bikes on the city's roads.

Dubai Police seized more than 1,700 bikes in 2017.

Major-General Al Marri said: "The coordinative meetings of the Dubai Police General HQ and the RTA are of immense benefit for the emirate, as well as the joint business plans. They contribute to achieving objectives related to enhanced security, tranquility and happiness among citizens and residents of this land."