Dubai Police warn motorists against stopping on busy roads

Three men were struck by a vehicle while attempting to cross a road

The driver of a Land Cruiser was severely injured after he rammed into a pickup truck that was parked wrongly in the middle of the road. Courtesy: Dubai Police

Dubai Police have warned motorists not to stop on busy roads and highways after five men were seriously injured in separate accidents in the emirate last week.

The first accident happened on June 13, when an Asian man was severely injured as he tried to help the driver of a minibus that broke down on the busy Mohammed Bin Zayed Road.

“The minis bus stopped due to a sudden failure. The driver was in the second lane and the tow away recovery truck arrived to help him,” said a police spokesman.

As the recovery operator tried to load the minibus on to the truck, a Pajero SUV rammed from behind and injured the man.

The second accident happened later in the day on Emirates Road.

A truck driver and a Nissan Patrol crashed into each other. The car owner parked safely on the hard shoulder but the truck driver left his vehicle unattended in the middle of the road when a third car rammed into it.

An Emirati sustained serious injuries in the crash due to the negligence of the truck driver.

“The driver of a pickup truck left his vehicle unattended as he went to talk to the driver of a Nissan Patrol who was parked on the hard shoulder. An Emirati driver of a Land Cruiser rammed into the pickup truck after he failed to see it had stopped in the middle of the road,” said Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of Dubai Police’s traffic department.

“It’s a mistake that is constantly repeated and we will not tolerate such mistakes of some drivers because they can cause deadly accidents and deaths.

“We always educate drivers about the dangers of this deadly behaviour,” he said.

In the third incident, three men were critically injured after being struck by a vehicle while attempting to cross Al Khail Road.

The group had been travelling on a bus transporting workers when the vehicle suffered a flat tyre and was forced to stop in the middle of the road on June 10.

The driver directed all passengers to get off the bus and reach a place of safety, only for three of the men to be hit by a passing vehicle.

“What the driver did was dangerous. Not only did he leave his bus in the middle of the road but also directed all passengers to get off and reach a place of safety, but three of the men were hit by a passing vehicle,” said Brig Al Mazroui.

Brig Al Mazroui warned that such incidents were a stark reminder of the consequences of stopping on busy roads.