Jaywalking down but deaths up

There were 25 accidents involving pedestrians in Dubai in the first four weeks of this year.

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Dubai // Two pedestrians were killed on the emirate's roads in January - and more than 1,900 were caught jaywalking.

Statistics released by Dubai Police yesterday showed most of the 25 accidents involved men.

In January last year, one pedestrian was killed. However, the number of people caught jaywalking has dropped by about half compared with last year.

"The fact that there were less people caught crossing from undesignated areas could be interpreted as a small change in the attitude of pedestrians," said Maj Gen Mohammed Al Zaffin, the head of the traffic department.

The department had identified pedestrian safety as a priority as they accounted for a third of all road accidents last year.

More than 300 road accidents involving pedestrians were reported last year. Forty-six pedestrians were killed and 42 seriously injured. Of the 46 deaths, 41 were caused by jaywalking.