Injury crashes in the UAE have been estimated to cost the country about Dh20 billion ($5.5 billion) annually, according to research findings revealed during an engineering forum recently held in Dubai.

The research, disclosed at the 14th Gulf Engineering Forum, and carried out by the Roadway, Transportation and Traffic Safety Research Centre (RTTSRC), also revealed that the UAE sees about 10,000 crashes annually leading to about 2.7 fatalities per day.

In addition to safety issues, traffic congestion remains one of the major challenges of road transportation in the UAE, with nearly Dh10.5 billion reportedly wasted annually on congestion, it added.

“On an average, UAE has a relatively high percentage of vehicles per person and a low dependency on public transport; these increases the challenges of congestion in the country,” said Essa Al Maidoor, chairman, UAE Society of Engineers, and assistant director for engineering and planning at Dubai Municipality.

“This year’s Gulf Engineering Forum provided very useful insights in using technology to manage traffic congestion and safety challenges; and the UAE Society of Engineers is proud to have hosted this unique forum for the third time,” he added.

During the three-day Gulf Engineering Forum, one of the region’s top transport experts – Dr Yaser Hawas, professor of traffic and transportation engineering, and director, RTTSRC at UAE University, discussed practices, challenges and opportunities in deploying intelligent transport systems (its) technology for safety and congestion management.

Dr Abdel Malek Abu Sheikh presented ITS master plan for Dubai, while Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zaffin, director-general, Dubai Traffic Police, presented ‘Dubai’s Experience in Reducing Fatality rates from Road Accidents’.

“We aim to achieve zero fatality from road accidents by 2020; this is no doubt an ambitious target, but it will motivate us to continually exploit laws and regulations that will help us achieve our vision,” Al Zaffin said.

Also, the Roads Transport Authority (RTA) presented case studies to showcase key milestones on the progress made on transportation in the Emirate. – TradeArabia News Service