Dubai: A motorist admitted to daydreaming while driving, which led to a major accident near Dubai Airport on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road recently, Dubai Police have revealed.
Among the major causes of accidents, with six deaths this year, daydreaming or loss of focus while driving can be fatal.
On Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, a driver realised the seriousness of his seemingly minor offence only when a loud noise of collision brought him back to reality.
As he drove alongside the Dubai Airport runway, located next to a section of Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, the scene of a landing aircraft reminded him of his family, who had recently travelled back home, causing a momentary lapse in concentration, enough to cause an accident.
The noise of the impact and the image of a damaged car in front of him brought the driver back to reality, according to Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of Traffic Department in Dubai Police.
He said that such accidents are a result of drivers’ negligence, which has killed six people during the first seven months of this year.
“Some drivers think negligence while driving is a minor traffic violation but it is not. It can cause deadly accidents. Negligence killed six people this year and 32 others sustained multiple injuries in 35 traffic accidents. Most of the accidents happened at night,” said Brigadier Al Mazroui.
Negligence can lead to speeding, sudden swerving, or lack of safe distance between vehicles, which caused these accidents.
“Sometimes drivers claim that they were busy with something and or got distracted while retrieving something that fell from their hands while driving. We always call on drivers to pay attention while driving and not to be distracted by anything, especially mobile phones,” said Al Mazroui.
He pointed out that one of the violations that drivers take lightly is reversing the vehicles on major roads, which has caused 50 accidents during first seven months of 2018.
“Some drivers think they are skilled enough to drive their vehicles in reverse. This offence killed two people and 17 others were injured. We usually see, when the drivers realise that they missed an exit on a highway they try to reverse towards the exit, causing deadly accidents,” added Brigadier Al Mazroui.
Dubai Police also urged drivers to check the tyres before driving especially in the summer as one driver was injured recently in an accident resulted from a deflated tyre.
Three reasons
About 88 people died in traffic accidents on Dubai roads during the first seven months this year, and according to Dubai Police 75 per cent of the fatalities were caused by three violations — sudden swerving, lack of safe distance between vehicles and reckless driving. These three violations together caused 66 deaths.
■ Sudden swerving caused 28 deaths
■ Lack of safe distance between vehicles killed 19 people
■ Reckless driving lead to 19 fatalities
