Out of this tragedy, good must come

7923b57ff8868210VgnVCM200000e66411acRCRDapproved/thenational/Articles/Migration/2009-Q3Out of this tragedy, good must come6923b57ff8868210VgnVCM200000e66411ac____Out of this tragedy, good must come

The National is launching a campaign with the aim of reducing the level of road deaths from among the worst in the developing world to among the best in the developed world.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring a nation to its senses. And somehow even the word tragedy seems inadequate to describe what happened on Monday evening in Abu Dhabi when three sisters, aged four, six and seven, were hit by a car and killed while trying to cross a busy road. No tears, no flowers, will comfort two bereaved parents in their grief; no eulogies, no condolences, will bring those little girls back. But there is one way in which their deaths need not have been in vain: the intolerable carnage on our roads must end, and the process of ending it must begin now. Those three deaths, and the many that preceded them, were avoidable. Only in Angola, Eritrea and Libya - hardly beacons of development - are the roads more deadly than in the UAE, according to a United Nations report last month. In the UAE you are seven times more likely to die on the roads than in the UK. Given the pace of development and progress that this country has achieved in the past 40 years, those figures are a national disgrace. The changes required are both social and practical. First, there must be a realisation that this country belongs to its people, not to their cars. Where there is a conflict of interest between the convenient flow of traffic and the natural instinct of pedestrians to take the shortest route between two points, the latter must always, without exception, take priority. Road design in the new communities springing up across the UAE must reflect that; and the older parts of our cities must be changed to reflect it too. Yes, there are drivers of many nationalities in the UAE and different driving cultures may contribute to the hazards. But this is one area where "tolerance" is a dangerous excuse. There are cultural differences but there is also the rule of law; there are different social norms, but there is also the universal sanctity of human life. In practical terms, some solutions are simple: laws requiring the use of seatbelts are not stringent enough. A World Health Organisation report revealed that in the UAE only 61 per cent of passengers in the front seat of cars are buckled up. There is no law for seatbelt use for those in the back seat of a vehicle. When one of the largest studies on seatbelt use showed that 40 per cent more accident victims escaped injury when their belts were buckled, there is no good reason for this. That pedestrians constitute 28 per cent of those killed on the UAE's roads is deeply troubling. For a start, there must be more pedestrian crossings. Second, pedestrian-controlled traffic lights should be introduced at places where people habitually cross busy roads. This will have the dual benefit of protecting people on foot, and slowing traffic. One of the most effective deterrents against dangerous driving in the UAE has been traffic lights fitted with cameras, and these can be used in tandem with pedestrian-controlled crossings to increase that level of deterrence. Too many drivers consider speed limits a suggestion rather than a law that must be obeyed. While there are hundreds of speed cameras, the number of deaths indicates that they do not deter speeding drivers. Offenders must know that they will be caught, and that they will be punished. Men constitute 87 per cent of traffic deaths and younger men are responsible for a high proportion of them. Parents contribute to the problem by paying their children's traffic fines - sometimes thousands of dirhams' worth - according to Colonel Saif Muhair al Mazrouei of the Dubai police department in an interview some months ago. A second major traffic violation should lead to the impoundment of a driver's vehicle for at least 30 days. Subsequent violations should lead to the suspension of his licence. Detection and penalties should be applied consistently and over the long term. For all of these reasons, The National is today launching a campaign with the aim of reducing the level of road deaths from among the worst in the developing world to among the best in the developed world. That aim is not just achievable, it is essential. Over the coming days, weeks and months we will report on how it can be done, on how collectively the people and the authorities can make it happen, and on what progress is being made. We demand it. This country demands it. And those three little girls demand it.

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