‘Bad road behaviour main cause of crashes’
abu dhabi — Traffic authorities in the Capital have urged people to improve their road manners and abide by traffic laws after figures showed that majority of road crashes last year resulted from drivers’ bad behaviours.
The Abu Dhabi Traffic Police said despite improved safety standards, bad road behaviour of drivers is still the major cause of accidents in Abu Dhabi.
Police said 94.5 per cent of the total road accidents registered in Abu Dhabi were caused by drivers’ bad behaviours.
Reckless driving, wrong overtaking, failure to observe safe distance between vehicles, using mobile phones while driving, sudden change of lanes, driving on the hard shoulder, speeding and others were among the bad road behaviours causing accidents, said an official.
“Road behaviour of drivers — whether they drive light vehicles or heavy vehicles — has to improve to promote road safety,” said Brigadier-General Ahmad Al Shehhi, Deputy Director of the Traffic and Patrols Directorate at the Abu Dhabi Police.
“Drivers must strictly adhere to traffic rules and regulations. It’s important for motorists to maintain a safe distance between vehicles, abide by speed limits, refrain from use of mobile phones while driving and remain focused on the road to avoid dangerous traffic accidents.”
He noted that there has been a steady progress in the development of road infrastructure and safety features in vehicles, increasing traffic control, installing more state-ofthe-art radars and traffic safety awareness initiatives targeting young drivers.
The Abu Dhabi Police also distributed safety awareness brochures among drivers of school buses as part of the 33rd GCC Traffic Awareness Week that begins on Sunday. The campaign will witness a number of traffic activities across the UAE and other GCC countries.