No road accidents reported on first day of school year in Dubai

Rush hour on the first day of the academic year is traditionally busy, but by 9.30am the police operations room had not received any reports or complaints of major traffic accidents anywhere in the emirate.

Fresh off the bus, pupils prepare to start their education adventure at the Delhi Private School in Dubai on August 31, 2014. Sarah Dea / The National

DUBAI // Despite thousands of extra cars on the road as parents dropped their children off at school, Dubai Police reported no major accidents on Sunday morning.

Rush hour on the first day of the academic year is always hectic, but by 9.30am the police operations room had not received any reports of major traffic accidents, said Brig Omar Al Shamsi, director of Dubai Police’s command centre.

Ali Mallala, principal of Dubai’s Al Safa secondary school, said almost 80 per cent of pupils were present for the first day of school.

“Some may still be on vacation or may have other circumstances, but all of our school buses arrived on time,” Mr Mallala said.

“We did not encounter any problems and we have not received any complaints from parents.”

Col Saif Al Mazrouei, head of the police traffic department, said this week that a traffic controller had been assigned to each school to ensure the smooth flow of vehicles and to ease congestion.

Col Al Mazrouei said those who obstructed the flow of traffic would be penalised.

Tim Waley, principal of Dubai’s Uptown School, said having someone on hand to control drivers around schools was a good idea.

Mr Waley said he did not have any problems in his first morning commute of the new term.

“I didn’t encounter any traffic issues but I’m sure others may have,” he said. “The school has staggered its start so parents were able to use the compound’s car parks easily.”

Mr Waley said secondary school pupils returned to school on Sunday, early years would arrive on Monday, and primary lessons would begin on Tuesday.

“This eased traffic pressure points at drop off time,” he said, adding that one or two pupils were absent.

“When the primary students start, hopefully a large percentage of our parents will be more familiar with the car park, enabling a smooth flow of traffic.

“Most students arrived to school on time and only a few were latecomers.

“We sent out information and suggestion notices to parents to anticipate some additional traffic on the roads and to take this into consideration so as to allow time to get to school on time.”