During the holy month of Ramadan, the road traffic and accidents gradually increase particularly at the time before iftar as everyone is rushing towards home to break their fast with the family. But unfortunately, this creates a lot of traffic on road and sometimes causing long tailbacks in Dubai.
Ramadan is a festive time in the Muslim world but it also brings unique challenges for the authorities especially in Dubai.
To tackle the traffic mess during the holy month, Dubai Police launched a new campaign called “Ramadan Aman”. The campaign aims at encouraging the Dubai motorists to abide by the traffic laws thus reducing the chance of accidents and traffic congestion.
Although the majority of the motorists who were involved in collisions and creating traffic mess drive their own car but drivers from car rental companies in Dubai and private taxi operators were also reported to add to this traffic chaos.
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Pakistani, Indian drivers cause more accidents during Ramadan
According to the three-year statistics of Dubai Police, Pakistani and Indian drivers topped the list of causing the maximum number of deaths in road accidents during the holy month of Ramadan.
The stats further show that Pakistani nationals caused the most number of deaths in accidents that is 11, followed by Indians who caused 9 road accident deaths. The emirates followed Indians by causing 7 deaths in road accidents in the last three years. Pakistani nationals, which consists of 38.9% of the drivers made the highest casualty (13) on the road during Ramadan in the course of past three years.
The stats also reveal that the road accident deaths in Ramadan decreased in 2017 when compared to 2016. Most of the road accident deaths (21) were caused by the vehicle collisions during the holy month of Ramadan in the last three years.
Moreover, the officials of the Dubai Police also blamed the mobile phone use and other interferences while driving, for the reason of accidents, fatalities and deaths.
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Some Highlights of the report about Accidents in Ramadan
> 20 deaths due to road accidents were reported in Ramadan 2016
> 6 road accident deaths took place in Ramadan 2017
> 11 road accident deaths were caused by Pakistani nationals
> 9 road accident deaths were caused by Indians
> 7 deaths due to road accidents were caused by Emiratis
>13 Pakistani nationals were killed in road accidents
> Most (8) of the deaths occurred on Emirates road
>Most road accidents were reported before iftar and in between 2-10pm
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All about “Ramadan Aman”
Ramadan Aman is a recent initiative by the Dubai Police’s Traffic Department in association with the General Department of Community Happiness to create awareness about the traffic laws and also urges the motorists to abide by them.
The stats revealed that most of the accidents occurred before iftar time so in order to reduce the collisions the Dubai police through this campaign have urged the motorists to be careful while driving in rush hours during Ramadan and leave for the destination before actual time.
Through this campaign, the police staff and volunteers, deployed at certain points and traffic intersections, will also provide iftar meals to the motorists in order to help them in breaking their fast without having to rush to their homes. This was revealed by Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafeen, assistant commander-in-chief of the Dubai Police for Operations and head of the Federal Traffic Council.
He further added that an exhibition will also be at Nad Al Sheba to create awareness about abiding the traffic laws and which eventually will aid our efforts to avoid the road rashness and slips committed by few drivers during the holy month of Ramadan.
Conclusion
It is evident that fasting may sometimes cause some habitual, physiological and behavioural changes that may be a reason of the rise in the rate of road traffic accidents during Ramadan but with certain precautions and tips, the unfortunate things can be avoided.
Ramadan is a special time of the year and it is all about being with your family and friends, but it is sad to see hundreds of accidents and dozens of fatalities every year caused in order to reach the destination to be with our closed ones.
So whether you are driving your own car or you have opted for rent a car services in Dubai, make sure to take precautionary measures. Leave your place sometime before the actual time to make it on time to your destination, only in that case you will get plenty of time to concentrate on the road. This will also make sure you abide the traffic laws properly and reduce the risk of being caught in an unfortunate incident on road.
We at Tripjohn rent a car in Dubai always stresses on our team members to abide by the traffic laws strictly in order to ensure that they reach the destination safely.
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