Abu Dhabi Police launched an awareness program to raise the level of traffic culture among students at the Juveniles Care Centre in Abu Dhabi. This program translates the initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, the Supreme Chairperson of Family Development Foundation (FDF), and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
The Juveniles Care Centre, Abu Dhabi Police Patrol and Traffic Directorate and “Saeed” Society to Reduce Traffic Accidents, all participated in this program.
Abu Dhabi Police urged the youth and community members to abide by the law of traffic rules; not to drive without a license, given that traffic accidents’ impacts affect not only the victim, but also the victim's family in particular, and the society in general.
During the launching ceremony of the awareness program at the Al Mafraq Juveniles Care Center, Brigadier General Ahmed bin Nakhira Al Mahrami, Director of the Human Rights Directorate at the Ministry of Interior, Chairman of the Juveniles Care Center Special Committee, stressed the importance of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak’s initiative, aimed to enhance efforts to provide health and safety for this important category of society, and protect it from traffic accidents and their resulting deaths and injuries.
He called on the students of the center to benefit from the awareness program; noting at the same time, that many traffic accidents, which occurred in earlier times, were caused by young individuals who were driving without a license, and resulted in deaths and serious injuries.
Competitions and Plays
Colonel Saif Said Al Shamsi, Head of the Cultural and Social activities at the Police Officers’ Club, gave a speech during the program’s launching, which included a number of events such as advice, traffic competitions, a theatric play, and traffic documentaries. The program also included patriotic poems, urging the youth to be devoted to their homeland and to preserve the civilized renaissance achievements by complying with the traffic laws and good values; by making sure not to cause harm to others or drive recklessly and wantonly.
Lieutenant Colonel Jamal Salem Al Amiri, Head of Public Relations in Abu Dhabi Police Traffic and Patrol Directorate stated during his speech, that Her Highness’s initiative embodies her keenness to protect citizens from the risks of traffic accidents that cause the loss of the youth, who represent the future of the nation.
He pointed out that the directorate has adopted 2012, as the Traffic Awareness year, in order to increase traffic awareness among all the segments of society, particularly the youth, to achieve a sustainable traffic safety.
Lieutenant Colonel Al Amiri explained that due to the intensive efforts exerted during the current year, deaths rate among the youth, especially in the age group between "18 to 30," have decreased during the period ranging from January to June, from 82 deaths to 69 deaths; while severe injuries decreased from 94 cases to 77 cases. Al Amiri also called on the youth to adhere to designated speed limits, not to drive recklessly or without a license, and to not use mobile phones while driving.
Then, a student recited a poem composed by Tarek Obeid Al Ali, Customs, Traditions and National Identity Specialist at the Al Mafraq Juveniles Care Center. The poem, which addressed Her Highness’s initiative to reduce traffic accidents, urged the youth to respond to the UAE Mother’s call and the call of the nation to reduce traffic accidents “which have become a raging fire, feeding on the youth”. It also tackled the suffering of mothers who stay up all nights weeping, mourning their children who lost their lives in traffic accidents.
The Abu Dhabi Police awareness program, which came in response to Her Highness’s initiative to exert efforts to reduce traffic accidents among the youth, included an awareness performance by a traffic Educational Patrol, on the causes of traffic accidents, and their resulting deaths and injuries; the need to abide by traffic laws and designated speed limits; the need to use safety belt, and not to use mobile phones while driving.
At the end of the program, students presented a play on the risks of the non-compliance with traffic laws and reckless driving.
Permanent Awareness
It is worth mentioning that Abu Dhabi Police, within the exerted efforts to provide traffic safety, educates the youth through Abu Dhabi Police program "Together" to reduce traffic accidents, which includes a number of interactive programs designed to motivate and enable young people to give their opinions on the issue of traffic safety, which reflects a major development in the traffic awareness field.
Abu Dhabi Police also urges young people to watch traffic awareness documentaries provided on its website and that include various traffic issues, calling them to participate in the initiative "Digital Traffic Violation" that contribute to spread the traffic culture through a virtual violation tackled by the members of the society in order to avoid its occurrence.
The number of posts in Abu Dhabi Traffic Program "Together" to reduce Traffic Accidents on the social network sites; comments and views on Facebook attained about 3 million 554 thousand and 967 views during the last period.
The number of followers of the program on Facebook is about 1222 followers and 1300 followers on Twitter and more than 1500 “retweets” on Twitter in less than two weeks.
The total of awareness messages through Twitter attained more than 400 thousand followers in the UAE, and exceeded the borders to neighboring countries. Furthermore, the numbers of the awareness video views exceeded 300 views, which proves the success of Abu Dhabi traffic awareness program.