Road accidents kill 20 Emiratis every month

An average 20 Emiratis die on the roads ever month while a total of more than 20,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in the UAE between 1977 and 2011, a traffic expert was reported on Tuesday as saying.

During that period, more than 490,000 road mishaps took place, a daily average of 40 accidents, said Dr Yousuf Al Housani, a consultant at the Preventive Medicine Department and a traffic safety expert.

“An average eight Emiratis are injured every day while 20 of them die every month as a result of road accidents,” Housani said in a lecture carried by the semi official Arabic language daily 'Al Ittihad'.

He said road accidents cost the world around $518 billion in 2009 while the cost in the UAE was estimated at Dh20 billion. Every Emirati death costs the UAE an average Dh7.5 million while a light injury costs Dh50,000, he added.

“Road safety is a common responsibility given its economic, social and health impact…available statistics showed that a new strategy adopted by the UAE to curb accidents is working as there is a decline in accidents and casualties.”

He said key challenges to that strategy include reckless driving by some motorists, the diversity in the nationalities and cultures in the UAE, non-compliance with seat belt rules, lax enforcement of traffic penalties and the absence of traffic accident treatment centres.