Seven injured on Dubai’s roads since start of Ramadan

Col Saif Al Mazrouei, director of the General Department of Traffic, urged drivers to be extra cautious, especially before iftar, and said officers would show no leniency during the holy month.

DUBAI // Seven people have been hurt in eight road accidents in the first four days of Ramadan.

Col Saif Al Mazrouei, director of Dubai traffic police, said six men and one woman were injured. Three accidents were in Bur Dubai, three in Al Muraqqabat, one in Al Rashidiya and one in Al Qusais.

Col Al Mazrouei urged drivers to be extra cautious, especially before iftar, and said officers would show no leniency during the holy month.

Police said there were 182 crashes in Ramadan last year, in which 13 people were killed and 98 injured.

In the first five months of this year, 62 people were killed on the emirate’s roads. Dubai Police recorded 612 incidents with 936 people injured. In the first four months of last year, Dubai Police recorded 932 accidents and 69 deaths, with 722 people injured.

Police statistics for the first five months of this year show five people were killed and 32 were injured in 28 accidents involving heavy lorries, while three died and 53 were hurt in 40 incidents involving smaller lorries.

Col Al Mazrouei said lorry accidents were often caused by drivers spending too many hours behind the wheel.

He said that plans were under way to establish four rest stops on Dubai’s highways this year.

Forty-one people were killed between January and May this year and 631 were injured in 405 incidents involving private vehicles.

Three people died and 56 were hurt in 49 incidents involving motorcycles, while eight people were killed in incidents involving buses, one in an accident involving a taxi. A cyclist was also killed.