Road safety situation in Abu Dhabi improved in 2017 as an encouraging drop of 31% was observed in road deaths as compared to 2016. The year 2016 was an extremely bad year for road safety situation in the UAE, but a lot has changed since then as authorities have adopted a tougher stance against offenders and focused on finding long-term solutions for the traffic problems.
The analysis of traffic stats of 2017 is critical because the amended traffic law was also implemented last year to improve the road safety situation across the country.
How have Authorities Changed their Stance towards Traffic Problems?
The amended federal traffic law was implemented on July 1, 2017 and it played a defining role in changing the mindset of motorists as well as the stance of traffic authorities towards dangerous traffic violations. With new traffic rules, increased penalties for dangerous violations and strict monitoring, traffic authorities have now devised a near-perfect mechanism to chase down offenders, which has clearly forced motorists to change their reckless driving behavior.
These developments in 2017 helped in improving the road safety situation that had deteriorated badly in 2016. The year 2017 actually proved to be safer than the expectation of authorities as the rate of road fatalities dropped to 5.7 fatalities per 100,000 people against the initial aim of authorities at the start of the year to decrease this figure to 7.93 fatalities per 100,000 people.
Also read: Traffic Problems in the UAE – A Roundup of 2017
A Summary of Traffic Problems Observed in Abu Dhabi during 2017
Traffic authorities recorded a decrease in almost all dangerous traffic violations committed by motorists in 2017, when compared to the stats from 2016. The traffic stats for 2017 were encouraging, but weren’t absolutely satisfactory as reckless driving behavior of motorists continued to threaten road safety situation in the emirate, particularly before the implementation of the new traffic law.
Listed below are the major stats that depict the traffic and road safety situation observed in Abu Dhabi during 2017:
- Speeding violations topped the list of dangerous violations committed by motorists in 2017, but were still fewer in tally as compared to 2016. According to the stats, 8% of total fines issued in Abu Dhabi during 2017 were speeding fines. Abu Dhabi Police issued 3,703,220 fines for speeding violations in 2017 as compared to 3,811,843 fines issued in 2016.
- Young motorists caused most of the dangerous road accidents in 2017. According to the stats, 8% of all road accidents recorded in the emirate involved motorists aged between 18 and 30 years.
- The most prevalent cause behind serious road accidents in 2017 was sudden maneuvers followed by other dangerous violations such as tailgating, not giving way to other commuters, poor lane discipline and inattentive driving.
- Traffic fines were also issued for random parking, driving an unregistered vehicle, jaywalking by pedestrians and not using seatbelts while driving.
- Run-over accidents decreased from 63 accidents recorded in 2016 to 50 accidents recorded in 2017, indicating a 21% decrease, which was again encouraging.
- Serious road injuries decreased in 2017 and the numbers came down from 159 in 2016 to 149 in 2017.
- Traffic violation with most recurring fines was poor lane discipline.
- The only two violations that recorded an increase in numbers from 2016 were the use of mobile phone while driving and jumping the red signal.
These figures clearly state that traffic problems in the UAE decreased in 2017 as compared to 2016, but dangerous traffic violations like sudden swerving and over-speeding continued to affect the road safety situation in the emirate. These stats also draw attention towards the challenge posed by dangerous traffic violations for authorities who now aim to strive harder for a safer 2018.
#رسائل_توعوية pic.twitter.com/YkMncMUs3p
— شرطة أبوظبي (@ADPoliceHQ) January 12, 2018
Also read: Traffic Violations with Maximum Fines in the UAE
Official Statement on Road Safety Situation in Abu Dhabi
Brigadier Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, Director of Abu Dhabi Police’s Central Operations Sector, said that the traffic authorities managed to achieve their road safety goals successfully in 2017 as road fatalities and number of traffic violations committed by motorists decreased as compared to 2016. He added that the Abu Dhabi Police will continue to follow the 2016-2020 traffic strategy that aims at improving the road safety situation in the emirate with each passing year. This strategy is segmented into five different categories that are listed below:
- Vehicle Safety
- Engineering Works
- Training and Awareness
- Emergency Response
- Traffic Enforcement
Apart from controlling the traffic problems with the help of advanced monitoring systems and taking steps to nab down reckless drivers more effectively, authorities also continued to offer initiatives for the welfare of motorists such as offering courses to remove black points issued against the license of a driver and many other such initiatives. With these efforts and a gradually improving mindset of motorists to follow safe driving habits, the traffic safety situation in Abu Dhabi is expected to improve significantly in years to come.
If you are looking to sell your used car to buy a new one with advanced safety features and improved performance, then don’t forget that with us, you can sell any used car in just 30 minutes while all the post-sale paperwork is handled by SellAnyCar.com’s team.
