Lieutenant General Saif Abdullah Al Sha’far, Undersecretary of Ministry of Interior, inaugurated the Abu Dhabi website for traffic awareness through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at the Rocco Forte Hotel in Abu Dhabi. This initiative is considered to be the first of its kind locally, regionally, and globally in the field of traffic awareness. The Abu Dhabi Traffic and Patrols Directorate has started nine traffic safety initiatives under the title “Together”. These initiatives are applied for the first time in the country in line with a new vision to develop traffic awareness programs that will involve all citizens in society.
The website was launched during the activities of the 28th Traffic Week for GCC countries, organized by the Traffic and Patrols Directorate at the Abu Dhabi Police. The Departments’ General Directors at Ministry of Interior attended the ceremony along with members of the Abu Dhabi Police.
Attendees of the meeting included Lt. General Obeid Al Hiri Al Kutbi, Deputy Commander- General of Abu Dhabi Police; Major General Khalil Dawood Badran, Director General of Finance and Service; Major General Mohammed Al Awadhi Al Menhali, Director General of Police Operations, Abu Dhabi Police; Major General Ahmad Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Central Operations; Brigadier Ghaith Hassan Al Zaabi, Director General of Traffic Coordination in Ministry of Interior; Brigadier Eng. Hussein Al Harithi, Director of Traffic and Patrols Directorate, Abu Dhabi Police; and a number of high officials in police forces and officers from GCC countries.
The ceremony included various activities such as viewing educational films featuring Abu Dhabi Traffic Awareness programs under the title “Together”, handing publications to the public, presenting initiatives including: “We Are All Responsible” that aims to involve all society members in traffic safety awareness, the “Through My Screen” initiative, which aims to reach all individuals of society, especially the youth through modern technology like the internet and mobile phones.
Brigadier Ghaith Hassan Al Zaabi, Director of the Traffic Coordination Department at Ministry of Interior, encouraged departments to redouble their efforts to stop traffic accidents, and its consequences, and to apply the mindset of the logo of traffic week this year “Together to Reducing Traffic Accidents” through good behavior and loyal interaction with the rules and regulations that preserve lives and promote safety.
Al Zaabi noted that the Ministry of Interior is preparing a comprehensive strategy regarding traffic safety in collaboration with the concerned parties to curb traffic accidents and its consequences. Despite these efforts, Al Zaabi pointed out that the community is still in need of more traffic awareness to make drivers cautious and concerned for their lives and lives of others.
The number of deaths resulting from traffic accidents in 2011 has reached 106 deaths indicating a 12.8% decrease compared to 2010. In 2011, the number of deaths amounted to 720 while in 2010, there were 826 fatalities.
He continued: “The percentage of deaths decreased from 10 percent to 8.49 percent for each 100,000 people. Indications show a 28.8% decrease in citizen’s deaths last year during the same period. Injuries decreased to 7,808 last year equaling 15%; this will be 1,379 injuries less than 2010 with numbers of injuries reaching 9,187. The number of traffic accidents also decreased, 6,700 accidents occurred last year totaling a 12.3% decrease (942 accidents) from 2010 where the number of accidents totaled 7,642.”
New Initiatives
Brigadier Eng. Hussein Ahmad Al Harithi, Director of Traffic and Patr