Labourers risking lives trying to cross roads, Dubai police say

DUBAI // Labourers are still risking, and losing, their lives while trying to cross busy roads especially in industrial areas, Dubai police said.

Twenty-three men were killed last year as they ran across roads close to workers accommodation, factories and warehouses in Al Quoz, Al Qusais and Jebel Ali. The majority of these fatal accidents involved Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis.

The number is an increase of six compared to 2015, while there were 19 deaths in 2014, said Brig Saif Mohair Al Mazroui, director of the General Department of Traffic at Dubai Police.

“Despite the many awareness campaigns that we continuously launch, especially targeting labourers, we still see irresponsible people that put themselves in danger,” he said.

In a bid to prevent such accidents, police stepped up patrols in industrial areas with officers fining 66,122 people Dh200 for jaywalking last year.

Around the emirate, 49 people died in run-over accidents in 2016, compared to 33 deaths in 2015. Overall there were 197 fatalities on the emirate’s roads last year, up from 166 in 2015.

Dubai Police is aiming to make big improvements in pedestrian safety, said Brig Al Mazroui.

“A key objective is to reduce the traffic mortality rate to zero by the year 2020,” he said, adding the “Cross Safely” campaign aims to encourage all pedestrians, but workers in particular, to use designated road crossings.

“We recently launched an initiative that aims to honour and reward people who cross roads safely, especially labourers,” said Brig Al Mazroui.

“We will honour workers who cross roads from designated areas in a step to reduce the number of run-over accidents. We will cooperate with companies to choose their workers who cross the roads from designated spots as a gesture to encourage their colleagues to follow suite,” Brig Al Mazroui said.

Brig Al Mazroui urged pedestrians to abide by traffic rules and cooperate with police to reduce road deaths.

A study by police showed that Indian drivers caused 12 fatalities last year compared to eight in 2015, Pakistani motorists caused 10 deaths against nine in 2015, while Emirati motorists caused nine fatalities compared to four in 2015.